Internal Q-switching in GaAs junction lasers

Internally
Q
-switched light pulses have been obtained from junction lasers. It is believed that this is a completely new observation for semiconductor lasers. Using specially fabricated diodes, narrow bursts of light were detected immediately after the termination of the injection current pulse. The effect persists for a wide variation in the length of the current pulse, from less than 2 ns to several μs. The width of the
Q
-switched light pulse itself is less than 0.4 ns, this value being the resolution of our detection system. Its energy increases rapidly with the amplitude of the injection current. The occurrence of stimulated emission after the end of the injection pulse indicates
Q
-switching due to a reduction of the internal absorption. This reduction allows those injected carriers that have not yet spontaneously recombined to produce the narrow burst of stimulated light. The
Q
-switching is observed over a current amplitude range that is a very strong function of temperature. This range can be relatively large. One diode at 150°K showed
Q
-switching after current pulses from 1.2 to 5.0 amperes; for amplitudes greater than 5.0 amperes, normal stimulated emission occurred during the current pulse. As the temperature is increased, the
Q
-switched pulse is first observed near T
t
, the so-called "transition temperature" where trapping effects first start to cause long delays between the application of the current pulse and the onset of stimulated emission. Therefore, it is believed that the same traps are involved in both the long delays and the
Q
-switching. The latter is observed only in diodes with low T
t
values where the absorption due to traps accounts for a large proportion of the total losses of the laser. A model explaining these effects will be presented.