Analytical theory and numerical simulation of non-equilibrium transport effects in laser heterostructures

We present a general one-dimensional (1D) macroscopic analytical theory of the transport effects in typical heterolaser diodes including carrier injection, carrier heating in the active region and leakage currents. The theory includes all key processes and parameters and defines the bottlenecks responsible for injection efficiency and vertical carrier leakage. Simple formulas are obtained. The theory is compared with a two-dimensional (2D) DESSIS simulation of InP/InGaAsP narrow surface-ridge (SR) lasers. Although an excellent agreement is achieved between the analytical and the numerical I-V characteristics, the 1D model has significant shortcomings and may lead to wrong interpretation of electronic processes taking place in real devices.