Quantum well saturable absorber dynamics: physical processes and modelling

A simple model for the dynamics of quantum well saturable absorber, involving just two extra ordinary differential equations for the fields in the optical confinement layer, is analysed and validated against a more generic delay-differential model. Processes of carrier transport and heating in the optical confinement layer are shown to affect the carrier distribution across the absorber, but to have only a minor effect on the absorber saturation and recovery at modest signal powers.