Temperature and pressure dependence of the recombination mechanisms in 1.3 μm and 1.5 μm GaInNAs lasers

We have studied the pressure and temperature dependence of the threshold current density, J th , in 1.3 μm and 1.5 μm GaInNAs edge‐emitting lasers. We find that J th is more temperature sensitive for the 1.5 μm devices. From analysis of the spontaneous emission from these devices we find that J th for the 1.3 μm devices is comprised of 50% non‐radiative monomolecular recombination, 25% radiative recombination and 25% non‐radiative Auger recombination at room temperature. In the 1.5 μm devices however it is composed of 30% monomolecular recombination, 10% radiative recombination and 60% Auger recombination. It is clear that the major difference in J th between the devices is caused by the increased Auger recombination in the 1.5 μm devices. Previously, we found that J th for 1.3 µm GaInNAs lasers increases with pressure due to the increase in Auger recombination brought about by a large increase in the cubed threshold carrier density ( n 3 th ). However, for the 1.5 µm devices, we find no significant change in J th with pressures up to 8 kbar. We suggest that this is due to the higher Auger coefficient for the 1.5 µm devices, which compensates for the increase in n 3 th with pressure. (© 2007 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)