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Measurement of interface recombination velocity in (Pb,Sn)Te/PbTe double-heterostructure laser diodes

Journal Article · · Appl. Phys. Lett.; (United States)
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.90825· OSTI ID:6477993

The effective minority-carrier lifetime in the active region of Pb/sub 0.86/Sn/sub 0.14/Te/PbTe double-heterostructure (DH) laser diodes has been experimentally determined for a series of diodes with active-region widths ranging from 0.7 to 3.9 ..mu..m using a measurement technique which involves observing the dependence of the threshold current density on the duration of a current pulse input. From the data, it is inferred that the interface recombination velocity at the heterojunctions is as high as 1 x 10/sup 5/ cm/sec at 5 /sup 0/K, while the bulk minority-carrier lifetime is 4.3 nsec. For a typical double-heterostructure laser with a 2-..mu..m active-region width, this implies a reduction in the internal quantum efficiency due to interface recombination of as much as 80%.

Research Organization:
Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and Center for Materials Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139
OSTI ID:
6477993
Journal Information:
Appl. Phys. Lett.; (United States), Journal Name: Appl. Phys. Lett.; (United States) Vol. 34:7; ISSN APPLA
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English