<title>Coupling the electronic and optical problems in semiconductor quantum well laser simulations</title>

Abstract

We discuss in this paper some of the methods for 2-D self-consistent simulation of semiconductor quantum well lasers. First, the electronic and optical parts are each treated separately, and then the coupling of the two problems is addressed. We briefly dicuss the evolution of self-consistent laser simulation up to its present level, and afterwards some of the electronic transport concerns are discussed in greater detail. Transport in bulk regions and at heterojunctions, and the coupling of classical and quantum regions are each presented separately. Then, we review the approaches to the solution of the eigenvalue problem for the optical field. Finally, to illustrate the issues involved in coupling electronic and optical solutions, we introduce a model laser structure in which the optical field is poorly confined in the lateral direction, and the different confinement mechanisms are discussed. We then present calculations showing how gain can contribute to the lateral confinement of the fundamental cavity mode.

The Coupled Optoelectronic Problems of Quantum WellLaser Operation

“…Minilase-II does this by treating the optical problem in two parts. First the spatial distribution of the optical field is determined by solving the scalar Helmholtz equation [2] v 2, + 0 where e m is the relative permittivity at optical frequency m, c is the velocity of light in vacuum, ) is the optical field, and is the propagation constant. The solution of (1) yields the eigenvector , which can be normalized to map photon populations into local photon densities.…”