Enhanced modulation bandwidth of strained MQW lasers

The authors compare the dynamic properties of bulk, lattice-matched, and strained multiple-quantum-well (MQW) 1.3- mu m Fabry-Perot lasers up to high bias levels. They show that long-wavelength strained MQW lasers can have a higher intrinsic bandwidth than bulk active and lattice matched MQW lasers, and that a -3-dB bandwidth of over 30 GHz can be expected from devices with a thin separate confinement heterostructure if a low parasitic device structure is used. It is found that the K factor used to determine maximum bandwidth in bulk active laser diodes is unsuitable for strained MQW devices, where a linear relationship of damping/(resonance frequency) is not observed at high power levels.<>