An investigation of lateral current injection laser internal operation mechanisms

Lateral current injection (LCI) lasers have the potential to overcome many of the limitations inherent to conventional vertical injection structures, but until now there has been very little theoretical analysis and optimization of LCI laser designs, 2-D self-consistent simulations of these devices have been carried out to analyze the electrical and optical characteristics of several recently fabricated devices. These simulations are in good agreement with available experimental results and offer explanations for the observed roll-off in differential slope efficiency. In addition, we have explored some key design issues unique to LCI lasers such as the cause and consequences of the non-uniform gain profile, ways to minimize this non-uniformity, and the effects limiting the device speed.<>