AUGER OPTIMIZATION IN MIDINFRARED LASERS - THE IMPORTANCE OF FINAL-STATE OPTIMIZATION

We consider the effect of reducing the density of final hole states fo r Auger processes on the Auger rate at room temperature and 77K at den sities near lasing thresholds. The system of interest is a strain-comp ensated superlattice based on the InAs/GaInSb material system with a 3 .7 mu m band gap. At 77K the Auger lifetime is reduced by two orders o f magnitude, while the change at 300K is less than a factor of two. We conclude that final-state optimization in this particular structure, while pronounced at 77K, has little effect at 300K. (C) 1998 Optical S ociety of America.