Cross-sectional atomic force microscopy of ZnMgSSe- and BeMgZnSe-based laser diodes

Atomic force microscopy (AFM) of cleaved facets of ZnSe-based lasers with various active region designs is reported. Different AFM probe friction on the materials forming the laser structures are exploited for imaging their basic layers. Unlike ZnMgSSe-based lasers, the cleaved surface of cladding layers in BeMgZnSe-based structures is atomically flat, which is attributed to hardening of the II-VI materials by Be incorporation. Nanometer-high steps and undulations are observed at the laser heterointerfaces on cleaved facets. The shape and height of such topographic singularities located in the vicinity of a (Zn,Cd)Se quantum well active region depend on the strain distribution in the laser waveguide. (C) 1999 American Institute of Physics. [S0003-6951(99)05343-7].