Abstract

Emitter carrier injection and base hole recombination with base carrier transport (emitter to collector, E➔C) are fundamental to the operation of the transistor invented by Bardeen and Brattain in 1947. Carrier recombination has become the subject of intensive study and has established, over time, a basis for III-V compound semiconductor visible light emitting diodes by Holonyak in 1960, IR and visible diode lasers by Hall and Holonyak at in 1962, quantum-well diode lasers by Holonyak in 1977 and hetrojuction bipolar transistors (HBTs) by Kroemer in 1957. For high speed transistor operation (f_T > 500 GHz) by Feng in 2003, the HBT inevitably becomes a high-current-density nanostructure transistor. Hence, the HBT with quantum-wells inserted in the base and cavity modifications has made possible a three-port device called the transistor laser (TL) and patented by Feng and Holonyak in 2003. Subsequently, we have demonstrated the first low temperature CW transistor laser operation in 2004[1] and the first room temperature CW laser operation in 2005.[2]

© 2011 Optical Society of America