A phenomenological model is suggested to describe nonradiative recombination of optical excitations in disordered semiconductor heterostructures. The general property of disordered materials is a strong decay of the photoluminescence intensity with rising temperature. We show that this temperature dependence is a consequence of the interplay between radiative and nonradiative recombination and hopping dynamics of excitations in the manifold of localized states created by disorder potential. The dynamics is studied by kinetic Monte Carlo simulations. Experimental data on the thermal quenching of the photoluminescence intensity in (GaIn)(NAs)∕GaAs and Ga(NAsP)∕GaP quantum wells are presented, which are in good agreement with the theoretical results

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A general scheme for the determination of vital operating characteristics of semiconductor lasers from low intensity photoluminescence spectra is outlined and demonstrated. We describe a comprehensive model that allows us to determine properties of the running device like gain spectra, peak gain wavelengths, bandwidths or differential gains, as well as inhomogeneous broadening and actual carrier densities of PL-signals. This information can then be used to compute characteristics like the temperature dependence of the gain, threshold densities, optical field distributions or near-field and far-field outputs

We measured time-resolved photoluminescence on as-grown, annealed, as well as annealed and hydrogenated (Ga0.7In0.3)(N0.006As0.994)∕GaAs quantum-well structures. The postgrowth treatment changes not only the photoluminescence decay time but also the intensity of photoluminescence directly after excitation. This initial luminescence intensity is determined by a competition between relaxation of electrons into nitrogen related potential fluctuations in the conduction band and their capture by deep traps. In contrast, the decay of the photoluminescence is mainly determined by the competition between radiative and nonradiative recombination, which are both influenced by localization. Annealing decreases localization effects and nonradiative recombination. Hydrogenation also reduces localization effects but increases nonradiative recombination