Temperature sensitivity of 1.55μm (100) InAs/InP-based quantum dot lasers

Semiconductor lasers with quantum dot (QD) based active regions have generated a huge amount of interest for applications including communications networks due to their anticipated superior physical properties due to three dimensional carrier confinement. For example, the threshold current of ideal quantum dots is predicted to be temperature insensitive. We have investigated the operating characteristics of 1.55 μm InAs/InP (100) quantum dot lasers focusing on their carrier recombination characteristics using a combination of low temperature and high pressure measurements. By measuring the intrinsic spontaneous emission from a window fabricated in the n-contact of the devices we have measured the radiative component of the threshold current density, J_rad. We find that J_rad is itself relatively temperature insensitive (Fig. 1). However, the total threshold current density, J_th, increases significantly with temperature leading to a characteristic temperature T₀~72 K around 220 K-290 K. From this data it is clear that the devices are dominated by a non-radiative recombination process which accounts for up to 94% of the threshold current at room temperature (Fig. 1).