Spontaneous emission factor for semiconductor superluminescent diodes

The spontaneous emission factor beta is an important parameter for the char acterization of semiconductor light emitting devices. In the analysis of su perluminescent diodes, especially in the calculation of the optical intensi ty using rate equations, most authors have used the estimated value of beta taken from laser diodes, despite the conceptual difference involved in eac h device. In this article, the spontaneous emission factor beta for superlu minescent diodes is discussed in detail, and a new method in calculating th e average value of beta is introduced. Based on this method, the values of beta for gain-guided and index-guided structures are obtained. (C) 1999 Ame rican Institute of Physics. [S0021-8979(99)05007-0].