Effect of non‐pinned carrier density above threshold in InAs quantum dot and quantum dash lasers

Abstract

The impact of carrier density non‐pinning above threshold on laser performance is studied in different quantum dot/dash lasers with room temperature emission wavelengths of 0.98–1.52 µm. Owing to inhomogeneity in the active region, the non‐pinning may be important even above room temperature because of the non‐thermal carrier distribution between the dots. This has a large impact on the external differential efficiency and the output power of the devices. In the presence of non‐radiative recombination, non‐pinning will further decrease the output power and the slope efficiency because of a significant reduction in the number of carriers available for stimulated emission.