Experimental analysis of temperature dependence in 1.3-μm AlGaInAs-InP strained MQW lasers

We have analyzed experimentally the temperature and pressure dependences of the lasing characteristics of 1.3-μm AlGaInAs-InP strained multiple-quantum-well lasers, by focusing on the ratio of the nonradiative recombination current to the total current. The temperature dependence of the radiative current was studied by observing the spontaneous emission through a window in the substrate. It was found to increase linearly with temperature, exactly as expected for an ideal quantum well over the entire temperature range from 100 to 360 K. Further, it was shown that pure radiative recombination dominated the total current below a breakpoint temperature T_b of 220 K. Above this temperature, the onset of loss processes including Auger recombination caused a superlinear increase in the threshold current. Analysis of the linear and nonlinear components allowed us to determine the ratio of the nonradiative to radiative currents at threshold. We find that, relative to similar GaInAsP/InP lasers, there is a decrease in the nonradiative component of the current, resulting in a higher characteristic temperature T₀ in the AlGaInAs-InP lasers. At 300 K, the radiative recombination current is more than 70% of the total threshold current. This result is consistent with the observation that the threshold current increases by about 8% in 12-kbar hydrostatic pressure, while in GaInAsP lasers, a decrease of 10% or more is always observed over this pressure range