Design and Room-Temperature Operation of GaAs/AlGaAs Multiple Quantum Well Nanowire Lasers

We present the design and room-temperature lasing characteristics of single nanowires containing coaxial GaAs/AlGaAs multiple quantum well (MQW) active regions. The TE01 mode, which has a doughnut-shaped intensity profile and is polarized predominantly in-plane to the MQWs, is predicted to lase in these nanowire heterostructures and is thus chosen for the cavity design. Through gain and loss calculations, we determine the nanowire dimensions required to minimize loss for the TE01 mode and determine the optimal thickness and number of QWs for minimizing the threshold sheet carrier density. In particular, we show that there is a limit to the minimum and maximum number of QWs that are required for room-temperature lasing. Based on our design, we grew nanowires of a suitable diameter containing eight uniform coaxial GaAs/AlGaAs MQWs. Lasing was observed at room temperature from optically pumped single nanowires and was verified to be from TE01 mode by polarization measurements. The GaAs MQW nanowire lasers have a threshold fluence that is a factor of 2 lower than that previously demonstrated for room-temperature GaAs nanowire lasers.