Gain spectra of quantum wires with inhomogeneous broadening

Author

Zarem, Hal ; Vahala, Kerry ; Yariv, Amnon

Author_Institution

California Inst. of Technol., Pasadena, CA, USA

Volume

25

Issue

4

fYear

1989

fDate

4/1/1989 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

705

Lastpage

712

Abstract

The effects of fabricational variations on the gain spectra of quantum wires are calculated within the limits of first-order perturbation theory. Gain spectra and density of states for 50-AA-radius and 150-AA-radius cylindrical quantum wires are calculated and plotted for several different fabrication tolerances. The wave functions for a finite, cylindrical potential are calculated and a quasicritical radius, below which the carriers are weakly confined by the potential, is established. This sets a lower limit on quantum wire size. Upper limits on the size of quantum wells, quantum wires, and quantum boxes are also discussed. The threshold current and differential gain of quantum-wire lasers and quantum wire array lasers are calculated. These calculations indicate a possible reduction in threshold current of one to two orders of magnitude as compared to the best quantum-well lasers.<>

Keywords

electronic density of states; laser theory; perturbation theory; semiconductor junction lasers; semiconductor quantum wells; density of states; differential gain; fabricational variations; first-order perturbation theory; gain spectra; inhomogeneous broadening; quantum boxes; quantum wells; quantum wire array lasers; quantum wires; quantum-well lasers; quantum-wire lasers; semiconductor laser; threshold current; wave functions; Fabrication; Laser theory; Optical arrays; Optical noise; Quantum dots; Quantum mechanics; Quantum well lasers; Threshold current; Wave functions; Wires;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Quantum Electronics, IEEE Journal of

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9197

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/3.17334

Filename

17334