Experimental verification of strain benefits in 1.5- mu m semiconductor lasers by carrier lifetime and gain measurements

Recombination processes, gain, and loss have been comparatively studied in both strained and lattice-matched 1.5- mu m semiconductor quantum-well lasers using differential carrier lifetime techniques and other measurements. For the first time, some predicted strain benefits to 1.5- mu m semiconductor lasers have been verified, including (i) the reduction of the Auger recombination rate in devices with both 0.9% and 1.8% compressive strain; and (ii) a 33% reduction of transparency carrier density in lasers with 0.9% strain compared to lattice-matched lasers. The authors, however, did not observe an increase of the differential gain in strained devices as predicted.<
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