Design criteria of 1.3-mu m multiple-quantum-well lasers for high-temperature operation

We present design criteria for high-temperature operation in 1.3-mu m multi ple-quantum-well (MQW) lasers from the viewpoint of the light output power penalty, i.e., the change in the light output power at a fixed drive curren t with increasing temperature. It is shown that not only the characteristic temperature (T-0) but also internal loss dependence on temperature (gamma) and threshold current (I-th) are significant parameters for reducing the p ower penalty. We compare the high-temperature performance of InGaAsP-based and AlGaInAs-based MQW lasers and demonstrate that AlGaInAs-based lasers ha ve more potential in terms of the power penalty. Furthermore, we also demon strate that the power penalty can be reduced by introducing a buried-hetero structure (BH) structure into AlGaInAs-based lasers. From these results, we conclude that the AlGaInAs-based BH lasers are promising for high-temperat ure performance.