Measurement of nonradiative Auger and radiative recombination rates in strained-layer quantum-well systems

To understand the feasibility of using strain to reduce the nonradiative Auger recombination rate of 1.5 μm semiconductor lasers, we have directly measured the radiative and nonradiative Auger recombination rates in strained-layer InGaAs/AlGaInAs quantum-well systems, using time-resolved photoluminescence measurements. We find that the Auger recombination rate can be reduced in either biaxial compressively or tensilely strained quantum-well structures. A longer radiative carrier lifetime is observed for the tensile-strained materials. The effect of strain and quantum confinement on the carrier lifetime is discussed.