Room-temperature, continuous wave lasing in planar microcavities with quantum dots

High-quality planar cavities with low-absorption mirrors based on $Al_{0.2}Ga_{0.8}As/Al_{0.9}Ga_{0.1}As$ layers demonstrate continuous wave lasing at a wavelength of 956 nm. At 300 K, the threshold power density and quality-factor at the threshold are (4.2$\pm$0.3) $kW/cm^2$ and (6800$\pm$220). Increasing the pump level above two thresholds lead to an enlargement in the quality-factor to at least 19000. Efficient lateral heat dissipation in the planar semiconductor microcavity is confirmed by a low mode-energy shift of approximately 400 $\mu$eV at two lasing thresholds.