Data are presented on the long-term (≳8 yr) degradation of Al xGa1-xAs-AlAs -GaAs quantum well heterostructure material because of the instability of underlying (internal) AlAs layers. Material containing thicker (>0.4 μm) AlAs "buried" layers (confining layers) is found to be much less stable than material containing thinner (≲200 Å) AlAs layers. Hydrolysis of the AlAs layers because of cleaved edges and pinholes in the cap layers leads to the deterioration.