Effects of well number, cavity length, and facet reflectivity on the reduction of threshold current of GaAs/AlGaAs multiquantum well lasers

Author

Kurobe, Atsushi ; Furuyama, Hideto ; Naritsuka, Shigeya ; Sugiyama, Naoharu ; Kokubun, Yoshihiro ; Nakamura, Masaru

Author_Institution

Toshiba Corp., Kawasaki, Japan

Volume

24

Issue

4

fYear

1988

fDate

4/1/1988 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

635

Lastpage

640

Abstract

The optimum design for reducing the threshold current of GaAs/AlGaAs multiquantum well lasers is determined experimentally. The lowest threshold current density is realized by using single and multiquantum wells at long and short cavity lengths, respectively. The threshold current has a minimum at the optimum cavity length: the minimum threshold current is smaller for a larger number of quantum wells, and the optimum cavity length is inversely proportional to the number of wells. Experiments are compared to the theory developed by P.W.A. McIlroy, et al. (ibid., vol.21, no.12, p.1958-63, 1985) and limiting performances of quantum well lasers with various numbers of wells are presented. The reduction of the threshold current by high reflectivity coatings is also demonstrated, and a threshold current as low as 1.86 mA at 15 degrees C is reported.<>

Keywords

III-V semiconductors; aluminium compounds; current density; gallium arsenide; laser cavity resonators; reflectivity; semiconductor junction lasers; 1.86 mA; 15 degC; GaAs-AlGaAs; GaAs/AlGaAs multiquantum well lasers; III-V semiconductor; cavity length; facet reflectivity; limiting performances; optimum design; single quantum wells; threshold current density; threshold current reduction; well number; Current density; Gallium arsenide; Mirrors; Optical losses; Optical saturation; Quantum well devices; Quantum well lasers; Reflectivity; Semiconductor lasers; Threshold current;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Quantum Electronics, IEEE Journal of

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9197

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/3.172

Filename

172