Effect of inhomogeneous line broadening on gain and differential gain of quantum dot lasers

Detailed theoretical analysis of the size fluctuation in InAs-GaAs quantum dot (QD) lasers is presented. Analytical expressions for the inhomogeneous line broadening and the optical gain are derived for a Gaussian size fluctuation distribution. The effect of size fluctuations on the QD carrier density, modal gain, and differential gain is studied. Red shifts in the gain peak is observed when size fluctuations increases. The energy detuning between the gain peak and the differential gain peak for a pyramidal quantum dot system having an average base length of 130 Å and standard deviation of 7 Å is about 12 meV.