Two-dimensional simulation of quantum well lasers including energy transport

A versatile, two-dimensional simulator for various types of semiconductor lasers for both steady and transients has been developed. The simulator is capable of spectral analysis of quantum-well semiconductor lasers, such as gain-spectrum analysis, as well as analysis of the two-dimensional current flow and optical intensity patterns. The simulator is based on the drift-diffusion model with full Fermi-Dirac statistics for the transport equations as well as for the Poisson equation. Simulation of the thermionic emission current is required at the abrupt hetero-interfaces of the quantum well. Energy transfer among the charge carriers, crystal lattice, and optical radiation in an optoelectronic semiconductor device is analyzed in order to obtain details of the internal temperature distribution. Fermi-Dirac statistics and the spatial band-gap variation in a degenerate semiconductor device with nonuniform band structure are included in the analysis. Sources of ill-conditioning in the simulation of thermal flow in semiconductor devices are considered, and a new conditioning scheme which gives a satisfactory convergence for the Newton method is also described. The boundary conditions for the energy flow equation are discussed. For the spectral analysis of quantum-well lasers, we have used the photon rate equation for each Fabry-Perot mode. For the optical intensity pattern, we have solved the two-dimensional Helmholtz eigenvalue equation using the subspace iteration method. The transient simulation is done by the backward-Euler method in conjunction with the full Newton approach for the entire semiconductor equations. To demonstrate the simulator, a model GaAs-AlGaAs graded-index-separate-confinement-heterostructure buried-quantum-well laser is analyzed.U of I OnlyETDs are only available to UIUC Users without author permissio