Abstract

The culmination of a series of basic research breakthroughs over the past decade on the first principles calculation of semiconductor optical properties has led to the first ever prediction of an end-packaged semiconductor multiple quantum well (MQW) laser device performance without resorting to the use of adjustable fit parameters¹. Current practice typically involves extremely costly and time consuming multiple wafer growth/re-growth and packaging cycles before finalizing on a commercially feasible end product. Semiconductor wafer growth can now produce heterostructures of very high quality with stoichiometrically correct growth of individual mono-layers. Despite significant advances in MBE and MOCVD growth/re-growth and packaging cycles before finalizing on a commercially feasible end product. Semiconductor wafer growth can now produce heterostructures of very high quality with stoichiometrically correct growth of individual mono-layers. Despite significant advances in MBE and MOCVD growt technologies, a critical void has remained in predicting the ridg performance of final packaged functional amplifier or laser rates from first principles. Now critical ingredients such as absorption/gain and refractive index (a-factor), spontaneous and Auger recombination rates can be computed for a wide range of material systems (II-VTs, III-V's) providing that the bulk bandstructure parameters and band offsets are known.

© 2007 IEEE