The hydrostatic pressure dependence of the threshold current in 1.3 mu m InGaAsP quantum well semiconductor diode lasers

We have measured the change in threshold current and lasing photon energy a s a function of pressure in 1.3 mu m semiconductor quantum well lasers. We observe a decrease in threshold current with increasing pressure indicative of an Auger recombination process which decreases as the band gap increase s. We have also measured the temperature dependence of the threshold curren t from 90 to 350 K. Near 170 K the characteristic temperature T-o goes thro ugh a maximum value at a 'breakpoint' temperature T-B. By comparison, in 1. 5 mu m lasers the value of T-B occurs near 130 K. This indicates that Auger recombination is less significant in the 1.3 him than in the 1.5 mu m devi ces in agreement with the high pressure observations.