High Temperature Characteristics of Strained InGaAs/InGaAlAs Quantum Well Lasers

The effect of high temperature on the threshold current density and the optical gain of strained InxGa1-x As/InGaAlAs quantum well (QW) lasers is investigated theoretically. These results are also compared with those of strained InxGa1-x As/InGaAsP QW lasers. InGaAs/InGaAlAs lasers show lower values of the threshold current density than InGaAs/InGaAsP lasers in the investigated range of strain. Also, it is found that the better performance can be achieved in InGaAs/InGaAlAs lasers compared to InGaAs/InGaAsP lasers at high temperature. This is attributed to the reduced temperature dependence of the threshold carrier density N th for InGaAs/InGaAlAs QW lasers. These results indicate that the carrier overflow problem can be reduced by using the InGaAlAs materials.