HOT-ELECTRON EFFECTS IN OPTICALLY-PUMPED MIDINFRARED INTERSUBBAND SEMICONDUCTOR-LASER

A theoretical investigation of an optically-pumped mid-infrared inters ubband semiconductor laser is presented. The influence of electrons an d dopant ions on the conduction band structure is simulated with a sel f-consistent Poisson-Schrodinger solver. Electron-polar optical phonon interactions are calculated by using a macroscopic phonon model with electromagnetic boundary conditions. In order to assess the influence of the electronic temperature on the device optical performances, elec tron dynamics under optical pumping are investigated within a rate equ ation model where particle and energy flow equations are derived from Boltzmann's equation with Fermi statistics. Our calculations show that population inversion between the first and second excited states can occur at 77 K under intersubband optical excitation. (C) 1996 Academic Press Limited