A wet chemical etch process suitable for manufacturing the gratings in gain-coupled distributed-feedback lasers is described. The process involves two etch stages. In the first stage, the grating pattern is transferred from photoresist into InP. At this stage, the bottom of the grating teeth is the top of the separate-confining heterojunction (SCH) layers. In the second stage, the grating pattern is transferred into the SCH and quantum-well/quantum-barrier layers. The process yields more uniform gratings than conventional single-etch processes because the etching in each stage is optimized for the material being etched in that stage. The process allows grating depth to be controlled to within +/- one-half the distance between quantum wells. The process has been applied to manufacturing volumes of 100 wafers per week. (C) 2004 American Vacuum Society.