Ultra-high differential gain in GaInAs-AlGaInAs quantum wells: experiment and modeling

A high differential gain of 9.3×10/sup -16/ cm
²
is obtained in GaInAs-AlGaInAs 1.55-μm multiquantum-well lasers with 1% compressive strain grown by molecular-beam epitaxy. This is the highest ever achieved in this material system. The model-solid theory and an approximate k.p method are incorporated in the theoretical gain calculation that provides a detailed understanding of the experimental results and guidance to further improvement.