Carrier transport can significantly affect the high-speed properties of quantum-well lasers. The authors have developed a model and derived analytical expressions for the modulation response, resonance frequency, damping rate, and K factor to include these effects. They show theoretically and experimentally that carrier transport can lead to significant low-frequency parasitic-like rolloff that reduces the modulation response by as much as a factor of six in quantum-well lasers. They also show that, in addition, it leads to a reduction in the effective differential gain and thus the resonance frequency, while the nonlinear gain compression factor remains largely unaffected by it. The authors present the temperature dependence data for the K factor as further evidence for the effects of carrier transport. >

High speed quantum-well lasers and carrier transport effects

Improved performance of 1.5- mu m wavelength lasers and laser amplifiers using strained In/sub x/Ga/sub 1-x/As-InGaAsP quantum well devices is reported. The device structures fabricated to study the effects of strained quantum wells on their performance are described. These devices showed TM mode gain, demonstrating the strain-induced heavy-hole-light hole reversal in the valence band. Lasers using these tensile strained quantum wells show higher and narrower gain spectra and laser amplifiers have a higher differential gain compared to compressively strained quantum well devices. Consequently, the tensile strained quantum well lasers show the smallest linewidth enhancement factor alpha =1.5 (compression alpha =2.5) and the lowest K-factor of 0.22 ns (compression K=0.58 ns), resulting in an estimated intrinsic 3 dB modulation bandwidth of 40 GHz (compression 15 GHz). >

High-performance 1.5 mu m wavelength InGaAs-InGaAsP strained quantum well lasers and amplifiers

The reported wide variations in the damping behavior of quantum well lasers are explained by a novel theory of nonlinear gain, well-barrier hole burning. In the model a spatial hole develops perpendicular to the active region involving carriers moving between the wells and the barrier/confinement layers. The modified rate equations describing well-barrier hole burning are presented. An analytical approximation for the nonlinear gain coefficient epsilon , valid only under certain conditions, is given. A numerical solution is given for the case of high photon densities and large capture-times. It is shown how well-barrier hole burning explains the measurements of the increased spontaneous emission from the barrier/confinement region above threshold. Various higher-than-expected damping rates reported in some quantum well lasers are shown to be consistent with the model. >

Well-barrier hole burning in quantum well lasers

The two-dimensional (2-D) quantum-well (QW) laser diode simulator Minilase-II is presented in detail. This simulator contains a complete treatment of carrier dynamics including bulk transport, quantum carrier capture, spectral hole burning, and quantum carrier heating. The models used in the simulator and their connectivity are first presented. Then the simulator is used to demonstrate the effects of various nonlinear processes occurring in QW lasers. Finally, modulation responses produced by Minilase-II are compared directly with experimental data, showing good quantitative agreement.

Simulation of carrier transport and nonlinearities in quantum-well laser diodes

The influence of both compressive and tensile strain on semiconductor lasers and optical amplifiers is reevaluated in the light of recent experimental and theoretical work. Strain reduces the three-dimensional symmetry of the lattice and helps match the wave functions of the holes to the one-dimensional symmetry of the laser beam. It can also decrease the density of states at the valence band maximum and so reduce the carrier density required to reach threshold. These two effects appear to adequately explain the TE and TM gain in compressive and tensile structures, including polarization-independent amplifiers, the behavior of visible lasers and the improved frequency characteristics of InGaAs/GaAs lasers. In 1.5 /spl mu/m InGaAsP/InP lasers phonon-assisted Auger recombination appears to remain the dominant current path and can explain why the temperature sensitivity parameter to remains >

Band-structure engineering in strained semiconductor lasers

Measurements of the relative intensity noise spectra of strained, single-quantum-well, separate-confinement-heterostructure (SCH) InGaAs-GaAs lasers indicate that their frequency response is strongly damped The ratio of the damping rate to the square of the resonance frequency is k=24 ns This intrinsically limits the 3-dB modulation bandwidths of these lasers to about 4 GHz, negating the predicted increase in modulation bandwidth due to the large differential gain often associated with quantum-well devices The damping behavior of these lasers is inconsistent with previous predictions of damping in bulk lasers due to spectral hole burning A structure-dependent damping mechanism is proposed for quantum-well lasers >

Anomalously high damping in strained InGaAs-GaAs single quantum well lasers

For the first time, the use of an etch-stop layer to precisely control the mesa height in ridge waveguide InGaAs/GaAs lasers is reported. These 980 nm devices emit up to 180 mW of total power in the fundamental spatial mode and lase in a single frequency with sidemode suppression ratios of greater than 25 dB.

High power 980 nm ridge waveguide lasers with etch-stop layer

A novel mechanism for nonlinear gain in quantum-well lasers

Pump lasers for Er3+-doped silica fiber optical amplifiers must demonstrate excellent spatial mode stability to high output power levels in order to achieve useful gain. 1,2 The pump band at 980 nm is the most efficient of the principle Er3+ absorption bands in terms of gain per input optical power. Pumping at 980 nm is also preferred in comparison to pumping at 1480 nm because it reduces the noise introduced into the amplified optical signal. In this paper we describe the design, fabrication, and characteristics of a high power, MBE-grown 980 nm laser with a simple, weakly-index-guided structure. The geometry of the laser's lateral waveguide is carefully controlled to ensure that all of the power is in the fundamental spatial mode. Far field patterns of these devices are single lobed and stable to the highest measured powers. These Fabry-Perot lasers exhibit single frequency operation to output powers as high as 170 mW, with linewidths as narrow as 5 MHz.

B. Elman

Papers

Well-barrier hole burning in quantum well lasers

Anomalously high damping in strained InGaAs-GaAs single quantum well lasers

High power 980 nm ridge waveguide lasers with etch-stop layer

A novel mechanism for nonlinear gain in quantum-well lasers

Single-mode, 980-nm pump lasers for fiber amplifiers