Extraction of non-radiative and carrier leakage losses in GaInP lasers through comparison of experimental and theoretical optical properties

GaInP quantum well lasers are important for applications such as DVD and photodynamic therapy. The performance of these lasers remains limited by non-radiative and carrier-leakage losses and to design fully optimised devices it is necessary to describe these losses accurately. The paper provides a quantitative analysis of these non-radiative losses through detailed comparison of experimental gain and spontaneous emission spectra with a verified theoretical model. We find that, even in the absence of carrier leakage, there is a substantial contribution to the room temperature threshold current from non-radiative recombination within the wells themselves.