Measurement of gain saturation coefficients in strained-layer multiple quantum-well distributed feedback lasers

Gain saturation coefficients of unstrained- and strained-layer multiple-quantum-well lasers were measured experimentally. These coefficients were higher in lasers that had compressive strain in their active-layer wells: 2.45×10^-17 cm³ with unstrained wells and 12.6×10^-17 cm³ with strained wells. The higher gain saturation coefficient in lasers with strained active-layer wells is related to their higher linear TE mode gain coefficient. The linearity factor (K factor) between a laser´s damping constant and the square of the laser´s resonant frequency decreased slightly with the introduction of the strain in the laser´s active layer wells. This factor, however, took the value of about 0.2×10^-9 s for each of these lasers