Band filling in GaAs/AlGaAs multiquantum well lasers and its effect on the threshold current

Abstract

Existing theoretical models for multi-quantum-well laser operation are not always accurate in evaluating band-filling characteristics. This, as a result of the partial omission of some significant physical processes or simplified modeling, sometimes leads to excessively optimistic prediction of threshold-current reduction in these types of lasers. An improved model which includes the effects of band nonparabolicity, revised band offsets at the heterojunction interface, nonradiative processes in the barrier and waveguide regions, and the energy-dependent spectral linewidth has been developed. It is tested satisfactorily by comparing its numerical prediction to the experimental results on cavity-length dependence of threshold current for lasers with a different number of quantum wells.< <ETX xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">&gt;</ETX>