Analysis of gain saturation in In0.02Ga0.98N/In0.16Ga0.84N multiple quantum wells

A way of analyzing the data in a variable stripe length method gain experim ent is presented. We confirm that the stripe length dependence of the gain in In0.02Ga0.98N/In0.16Ga0.84N multiple quantum wells is caused by the chan ge of the chemical potential along the excited stripe due to the interactio n of the carrier and photon densities, and the gain threshold density is es timated. A trial function assuming a Lorentzian line shape for the stripe l ength dependence of the gain is compared with the edge emission intensity a s a function of the stripe length. This is found to fit very well with our data, even beyond the saturation region. (C) 2001 American Institute of Phy sics.