Recombination constants and alpha factor in 1.5 mu m MQW optical amplifiers taking carrier overflow into account

Recombination constants, carrier lifetime, linewidth enhancement factor and related parameters are examined experimentally and theoretically for MQW semiconductor optical amplifiers. The theoretical model which takes carrier overflow into account predicts a band-to-band recombination constant of B=10^-10 m⁶/s and an Auger recombination constant of C=15*10^-29 m⁶/s which is higher than previously reported for MQW devices. Furthermore, linewidth enhancement factors up to 30 are measured.