1st Edition
Semiconductor Laser Theory
Developed from the authors’ classroom-tested material, Semiconductor Laser Theory takes a semiclassical approach to teaching the principles, structure, and applications of semiconductor lasers. Designed for graduate students in physics, electrical engineering, and materials science, the text covers many recent developments, including diode lasers using quantum wells, quantum dots, quantum cascade lasers, nitride lasers, group IV lasers, and transistor lasers.
The first half of the book presents basic concepts, such as the semiconductor physics needed to understand the operation of lasers, p-n junction theory, alloys, heterostructures, quantum nanostructures, k.p theory, waveguides, resonators, filters, and optical processes. The remainder of the book describes various lasers, including double heterostructure, quantum wire, quantum dot, quantum cascade, vertical-cavity surface-emitting, single-mode and tunable, nitride, group IV, and transistor lasers.
This textbook equips students to understand the latest progress in the research and development of semiconductor lasers, from research into the benefits of quantum wire and quantum dot lasers to the application of semiconductor lasers in fiber-optic communications. Each chapter incorporates reading lists and references for further study, numerous examples to illustrate the theory, and problems for hands-on exploration.
Introduction to Semiconductor Lasers
Brief History
Principle of Lasers
Semiconductor Laser
Materials for Semiconductor Lasers
Special Features
Applications
Basic Theory
Introduction
Band Structure
E–k Diagram and Effective Mass
Density of States
Carrier Concentration
Intrinsic and Extrinsic Semiconductor
Transport of Charge Carriers
Excess Carriers
Diffusion and Recombination: The Continuity Equation
Basic p-n Junction Theory
I-V and Capacitance–Voltage Characteristics of p-n Junction
Heterojunctions and Quantum Structures
Introduction
Alloys
Heterojunctions
Quantum Structures
Quantum Wells
Quantum Wires and Quantum Dots
Strained Layers
Band Structures
Introduction
Band Theory: Bloch Functions
The k.p Perturbation Theory Neglecting Spin
Spin–Orbit Interaction
Strain-Induced Band Structure
Quantum Wells
Waveguides and Resonators
Introduction
Ray Optic Theory
Reflection Coefficients
Modes of a Planar Waveguide
Wave Theory of Light Guides
3-D Optical Waveguides
Resonators
Optical Processes
Introduction
Optical Constants
Absorption Processes in Semiconductors
Fundamental Absorption in Direct Gap
Intervalence Band Absorption (IVBA)
Free-Carrier Absorption
Recombination and Luminescence
Nonradiative Recombination
Carrier Effect on Absorption and Refractive Index
Excitons
Models for DH Lasers
Introduction
Gain in DH Lasers
Threshold Current
Effect of Electric Field in Cladding on Leakage Current
Gain Saturation
Rate Equation Model
Rate Equations: Solution of Time-Dependent Problems
Modulation Response
Temperature Dependence of Threshold Current
Quantum Well Lasers
Introduction
Structures
Interband Transitions
Model Gain Calculation: Analytical Model
Recombination in QWs
Loss Processes in QW Lasers
MQW Laser
Modulation Response of QW Lasers
Strained QW Lasers
Type II Quantum Well Lasers
Tunnel-Injection QW Laser
Quantum Dots
Introduction
QD Growth Mechanisms and Structures
Introductory Model for QD Lasers
Deviation from Simple Theory: Effect of Broadening
Subband Structures for Pyramidal QDs
Refined Theory for Gain and Threshold
Modulation Bandwidth: Rate Equation Analysis
Tunnel-Injection QD Lasers
Quantum Cascade Lasers
Introduction
A Brief History
Basic Principle
Improved Design of Structures
Nonradiative Inter- and Intrasubband Transitions
Some Design Issues
Frequency Response
Terahertz QCL
QD QCL
Vertical-Cavity Surface-Emitting Laser
Introduction
Structures and Basic Properties
Elementary Theory of VCSEL
Requirements for Components
Characteristics of VCSELs
Modulation Bandwidth
Temperature Dependence
Tunnel Junction
QD-VCSEL
Microcavity Effects and Nanolasers
Single-Mode and Tunable Lasers
Introduction
Need for Single-Mode Laser
Limitation of FP Laser
Distributed Feedback
DBR Laser
DFB Laser
Tunable Lasers
Characteristics of Tunable Lasers
Methods and Structures for Continuous and Discontinuous Tuning
Tunable Vertical-Cavity Surface-Emitting Laser
Nitride Lasers
Introduction
Polar Materials and Polarization Charge
Quantum-Confined Stark Effect
Early Work and Challenges
Some Useful Properties of Nitrides
First Laser Diode
Violet c-Plane Laser
Blue and Green Lasers
Nonpolar and Semipolar Growth Planes
Group IV Lasers
Introduction
Need for Si (Group IV) Lasers
Problems Related to Group IV Semiconductors: Indirect Gap
Recent Challenges
Use of Heterostructure for Direct Bandgap Type I Structure
Ge Laser at 1550 nm
Mid-Infrared Laser Based on GeSn
Incorporation of C
Transistor Lasers
Introduction
Structure and Basic Working Principle
Principle of Operation: Model Description
Gain Compression
Frequency Response
Appendix I
Appendix II
Problems, a Reading List, and References appear at the end of each chapter.
Biography
Prasanta Kumar Basu retired as a professor from the University of Calcutta in 2011 and is now a UGC Basic Scientific Research Faculty Fellow at the university. Dr. Basu has published roughly 120 articles in peer-reviewed journals. His research interests include low-field and hot electron transport and scattering mechanisms in semiconductors and their nanostructures, semiconductor electronic and photonic devices, and optical communication. He earned a PhD in radio physics and electronics from the University of Calcutta.
Bratati Mukhopadhyay is an assistant professor in the Institute of Radio Physics and Electronics at the University of Calcutta. Dr. Mukhopadhyay is a member of the IEEE and the current secretary of the IEEE Photonics Society, Calcutta Chapter. Her research interests include physics of semiconductor nanostructures, semiconductor devices and modeling, VLSI circuits, and photonics. She earned a PhD in radio physics and electronics from the University of Calcutta.
Rikmantra Basu is an assistant professor in the Department of Electronics and Communications Engineering at the National Institute of Technology Delhi. Dr. Basu is a member of the IEEE. His research interests include semiconductor devices, electronic circuits and devices, optoelectronics and optical communication, and nanophotonics. He earned a Ph.D. in nanotechnology from the University of Calcutta.
"This textbook offers a thorough treatment of basic principles and also manages to capture current trends in semiconductor laser research. … topics are supplemented with problem sets for testing the reader’s understanding, and some references to the literature. The authors’ clear presentation of the material in this volume makes it eminently digestible."
—Optics & Photonics News, December 2015