Title :
Transport limits in high-speed quantum-well lasers: experiment and theory
Author :
Nagarajan, Radhakrishnan ; Fukushima, Toru ; Ishikawa, Masayuki ; Bowers, John E. ; Geels, Randall S. ; Coldren, Larry A.
Author_Institution :
Dept. of Electr. & Comput. Eng., California Univ., Santa Barbara, CA, USA
Abstract :
It is shown experimentally that the modulation bandwidth of quantum well lasers can be reduced by a factor of six due to carrier transport across undoped layers of the laser as in the separate confinement heterostructure (SCH). Analytical expressions are given for the modulation response function, resonance frequency, damping rate and K factor to include carrier transport, and it is shown that carrier transport is responsible for a low-frequency rolloff which limits the modulation response of quantum-well lasers. It also shown that carrier transport leads to a reduction in the effective differential gain, while the gain compression factor remains largely unaffected by it.<>
Keywords :
carrier mobility; optical modulation; semiconductor junction lasers; InGaAs-GaAs; K factor; LF; SCH; carrier transport; damping rate; diode lasers; effective differential gain; gain compression factor; high-speed quantum-well lasers; low-frequency rolloff; modulation bandwidth; modulation response; modulation response function; resonance frequency; semiconductors; separate confinement heterostructure; undoped layers; Bandwidth; Carrier confinement; Damping; Laser theory; Optical modulation; Optical waveguides; Quantum well lasers; Resonance; Resonant frequency; Waveguide lasers;
Journal_Title :
Photonics Technology Letters, IEEE
