Wavelength dependence of gain saturation in GaAs lasers

Abstract

The amplification of light in GaAs lasers is calculated self-consistently. It is shown that the wavelength dependence of the gain saturation is caused by the change of the chemical potential within the excited region due to the coupling of the carrier density with the photon density via the stimulated emission process. The effect of the wavelength dependent gain saturation on the stimulated emission spectra is calculated and compared with experimental results. Comparison of different recombination models indicates that a band-to-band transition without <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">k</tex> -selection rules including tail states is the most appropriate description of the experimental data even for pure material.