WELL NUMBER, LENGTH, AND TEMPERATURE-DEPENDENCE OF EFFICIENCY AND LOSS IN INGAASP-INP COMPRESSIVELY STRAINED MQW RIDGE-WAVE-GUIDE LASERS AT1.3 MU-M

Experimental measurements of external differential efficiency on 0.7% compressively strained multiquantum-well (MQW) ridge waveguide lasers operating at 1.3 mu m are presented. The lasers have the number of qua ntum wels (QW's) varying from 5 to 14 and cavity lengths ranging from 250 to 1000 mu m and were measured over a temperature range of -50 deg rees C to 90 degrees C. A phenomenological model is introduced which s hows that over a range of design and operating conditions, the behavio r of the external differential quantum efficiency can be entirely expl ained by intervalence band absorption (IVBA). It is also shown that ou tside this range IVBA alone is slot sufficient to describe the behavio r, indicating that current leakage becomes a significant factor, Ramif ications of the IVBA contribution to the external differential quantum efficiency are investigated.