THE DIFFERENTIAL EFFICIENCY OF QUANTUM-WELL LASERS

We have analyzed the internal differential efficiency of quantum-well lasers in terms of current spreading, carrier injection into the well, and the radiative efficiency within the well, We quantify the first t wo of these processes by extracting information from spontaneous emiss ion measurements as a function of device length, current, and temperat ure, We show that the carrier injection efficiency is responsible for the temperature dependence of the external differential efficiency of GaInP quantum-well (QW) lasers by comparing values from the slope of t he laser power output versus current characteristic with our experimen tal values for current spreading and injection efficiency.