CARRIER CAPTURE IN QUANTUM-WELL EMBEDDED QUANTUM-WIRE STRUCTURES

We propose a novel quantum wire (QWR) laser structure with improved ca rrier capture characteristics, where the carriers are injected into a quantum well (QWL) and subsequently recombine within an embedded QWR. The corresponding electron capture rates via polar optical phonon scat tering are calculated for this system. An oscillatory behavior of the electron capture rate is observed as a function of the QWR thickness a t the temperatures considered (77 K and 300 K). The amplitude of these oscillations also increases as the QWR width decreases. Our calculati ons show that the electron capture rate in the QWL embedded QWR struct ure can be improved by more than 30% when compared to single QWLs. The refore, the proposed QWR laser design provides improved modulation ban dwidth and optical gain over conventional QWL and QWR structures. (C) 1996 American Institute of Physics.