Threshold characteristics of semiconductor lasers under conditions of violation of electroneutrality in quantum wells

The threshold characteristics of semiconductor lasers are studied theoretically when the electroneutrality in quantum wells is violated. It is shown that even with the infinitely large threshold concentration of the charge carriers of one sign in the wells, the minimum threshold concentration of the carriers of the opposite sign is nonzero. It is found that in InGaAs/GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructures emitting near the wavelength 1.044 μm, in a wide range of values of the electron concentration in the wells the threshold concentrations of free electrons and holes in the waveguide region are small, the contribution of the recombination current in the waveguide region to the total threshold current is negligible and in the case of a single quantum well, the threshold current density is virtually constant, i.e., the violation of electroneutrality in the InGaAs/GaAs/AlGaAs structures with a single quantum well has almost no effect on the threshold current. In the structures with two or three wells the violation of electroneutrality manifests itself much stronger and can lead to either a decrease or an increase in the threshold current.