Efficiency of long-wavelength lasers from an analysis of the temperature and pressure dependence of their spontaneous emission

The spontaneous emission efficiency of 1.5-μm quantum-well lasers have been analyzed to yield directly the ratio C/B ^3/2 where C and B are the Auger and radiative recombination coefficients, respectively. The temperature dependence of the result yields an activation energy for the Auger process of between 105 and 124 meV, in good agreement with theory, while the pressure dependence of the results can also be explained in terms of pressure induced changes in the band structure. The authors believe the approach adopted provides a useful measure of the fundamental properties of the band structure of the laser and is helpful when comparing devices where, for example, improvements are sought by introducing strain or different degrees of quantum confinement