Effect of carrier charge imbalance on the threshold current in diode lasers with thin intrinsic quantum wells

This study is based on the results of a two-dimensional self-consistent laser simulator MINILASE for the GaAs/AlGaAs system. It predicts that the electron/hole density ratio in thin quantum wells (QW’s) of laser diodes with intrinsic QW active regions (QW p-i-n lasers) can be significantly different from unity and depends on the doping density near the active region. These deviations from local charge neutrality can have significant effects on the laser threshold.