Determination of active-region leakage currents in ridge-waveguide strained-layer quantum-well lasers by varying the ridge width

Author

Letal, G.J. ; Simmons, J.G. ; Evans, J.D. ; Li, G.P.

Author_Institution

Dept. of Eng. Phys., McMaster Univ., Hamilton, Ont., Canada

Volume

34

Issue

3

fYear

1998

fDate

3/1/1998 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

512

Lastpage

518

Abstract

This paper is concerned with the investigation of lateral current spreading in InGaAsP strained-layer, ridge-waveguide multiple-quantum-well (MQW) semiconductor lasers consisting of nine quantum wells (QWs) and having ridge widths varying from 1.5 to 5 μm. By using a simple analytical model, it is possible to demonstrate that as much as 60% of the injected current escapes out of the active region of a 1.5-μm laser at threshold. For the first time, such an analysis is extended into the above-threshold regime to examine the effects of lateral current spreading on the external differential efficiency

Keywords

III-V semiconductors; gallium arsenide; gallium compounds; indium compounds; laser theory; leakage currents; quantum well lasers; ridge waveguides; semiconductor device models; waveguide lasers; 1.5 mum; 1.5 to 5 mum; InGaAsP; InGaAsP strained-layer ridge-waveguide MQW semiconductor lasers; above-threshold regime; active region; active-region leakage currents; external differential efficiency; injected current escapes; lateral current spreading; ridge width; ridge widths; ridge-waveguide strained-layer quantum-well lasers; simple analytical model; Charge carrier density; Charge carrier lifetime; Current density; Equations; Laser modes; Leakage current; Quantum well devices; Quantum well lasers; Semiconductor lasers; Waveguide lasers;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Quantum Electronics, IEEE Journal of

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9197

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/3.661460

Filename

661460