DETERMINATION OF CARRIER LIFETIMES USING HAKKI-PAOLI GAIN DATA

This letter presents a technique for determining carrier lifetimes, wh ich does not require a fast detector or rely on an experimentally comp lex implementation. The technique is based both on a measurement and a parallel calculation: (1) A Hakki-Paoli [J. Appl. Phys. 44, 4113 (197 3)] measurement of modal gain versus current density, g (J), and (2) a theoretical determination of the modal gain versus carrier sheet dens ity, g(N). Once the gain relationships have been determined, the carri er sheet density N can be functionally related to the current density J and the lifetime determined. We demonstrate this method on two InGaA s single quantum well lasers. This method may prove particularly usefu l for carrier lifetime estimations in long-wavelength semiconductor la sers. (C) 1998 American Institute of Physics.