Many-body effects in the gain and refractive index of an active semiconductor medium
- Sandia National Labs., Albuquerque, NM (United States)
Most semiconductor gain models assume that plasma screening allows one to treat the carriers as essentially free particles, with the effects of the lattice accounted for by mass renormalization. Such free particle theories may be reasonable approximations in some situations, because semiconductor lasers typically operate with high injection current and at room temperature. In general, the strong Coulomb coupling among electrons and holes is not completely canceled by plasma screening, resulting in noticeable modifications to the semiconductor laser gain and refractive index. These effects include the reduction of the bandgap with increasing carrier density and the enhancement of the optical interband transitions due to the partially screened attractive electron-hole interaction. Here, a comprehensive microscopic theory that includes bandgap renormalization, plasma screening and interband Coulomb effects is used to calculate the gain and carrier-induced refractive index in an active semiconductor medium. This paper describes the effects of these many-body interactions on bulk and quantum well structures.
- Research Organization:
- Sandia National Laboratories (SNL), Albuquerque, NM, and Livermore, CA (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC04-76DP00789
- OSTI ID:
- 64757
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-940142-; ISBN 0-8194-1441-7; TRN: IM9528%%417
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: OE/LASE `94: conference on optics, electro-optics, and laser applications in science and engineering, Los Angeles, CA (United States), 22-29 Jan 1994; Other Information: PBD: 1994; Related Information: Is Part Of Physics and simulation of optoelectronic devices II. Proceedings SPIE Volume 2146; Chow, W.W.; Osinski, M. [eds.]; PB: 496 p.
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Many-body effects in gain and refractive-index spectra of bulk and quantum-well semiconductor lasers
Saturation effects in the carrier-induced refractive index in a semiconductor gain medium