Cooling of semiconductors by laser radiation

A model is developed for describing the cooling of a semiconductor sample by laser radiation. In addition to stimulated interband transitions, the model takes into account spontaneous radiative and nonradiative carrier recombination, absorption of radiation by free carriers, reabsorption of the spontaneously emitted photons in the bulk of a sample being cooled, and saturation of the absorption coefficient. Estimates are obtained of the optimal laser radiation intensity and of the lowest attainable carrier temperature in a cooled sample.