A two-dimensional nonisothermal finite element simulation of laser diodes

Author

Tan, Gen-Lin ; Bewtra, Naveen ; Lee, Keith ; Xu, J.M.

Author_Institution

Dept. of Electr. Eng., Toronto Univ., Ont., Canada

Volume

29

Issue

3

fYear

1993

fDate

3/1/1993 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

822

Lastpage

835

Abstract

A fully self-consistent nonisothermal, two-dimensional model of a semiconductor laser device is presented. The model consists of the simultaneous solution of the electrical equations (Poisson´s and electron and hole continuity equations), along with the wave equation, photon rate equation, and thermal conduction equation. An analysis is presented for an AlGaAs-GaAs ridge laser diode structure using this model as a representative example. The results agree well with available experimental data. A comparison of the results between isothermal and nonisothermal simulations shows that the nonisothermal case has a higher threshold current and lower quantum efficiency than the idealized isothermal model. The result was found to depend critically on the thermal exchange boundary condition of the simulated device, demonstrating the importance of considering thermal exchange in the design of laser diodes

Keywords

III-V semiconductors; aluminium compounds; finite element analysis; gallium arsenide; semiconductor device models; semiconductor lasers; 2D; AlGaAs-GaAs ridge laser diode structure; Poisson´s equations; diode laser design; electrical equations; electron continuity equations; hole continuity equations; laser diodes; nonisothermal finite element simulation; photon rate equation; quantum efficiency; self-consistent laser models; semiconductor laser device; thermal conduction equation; thermal exchange; thermal exchange boundary condition; threshold current; wave equation; Charge carrier processes; Diode lasers; Finite element methods; Isothermal processes; Laser modes; Partial differential equations; Poisson equations; Semiconductor lasers; Thermal conductivity; Threshold current;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Quantum Electronics, IEEE Journal of

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9197

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/3.206566

Filename

206566