The carbon auto-doping behaviors of AlGaAs/GaAs material system were studied by low-pressure metalorganic vapor deposition and good reproducibility of doping control was confirmed. Using heavily doped GaAs contact layer and properly doped AlGaAs cladding layer, high-quality 915 nm laser structures were grown. First results on broad area devices have already shown comparable data to Zn-doped structure of the same design. Initial life test showed no degradation. Therefore, carbon auto-doping was demonstrated as an alternative with unique advantages over extrinsic carbon-doping and Zn-doping approaches for high-power semiconductor laser applications. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.