Mapping between quantum dot and quantum well lasers: From conventional to spin lasers

Abstract

We explore similarities between the quantum wells and quantum dots used as optical gain media in semiconductor lasers. We formulate a mapping procedure which allows a simpler, often analytical, description of quantum well lasers to study more complex lasers based on quantum dots. The key observation in relating the two classes of laser is that the influence of a finite capture time on the operation of quantum dot lasers can be approximated well by a suitable choice of the gain compression factor in quantum well lasers. Our findings are applied to the rate equations for both conventional (spin-unpolarized) and spin lasers in which spin-polarized carriers are injected optically or electrically. We distinguish two types of mapping that pertain to the steady-state and dynamical operation respectively and elucidate their limitations.

14 pages, 12 figures, and 1 table. Selected for an Editors' Suggestion in PRB and for a Viewpoint in Physics

References in corpus (6)

• Silicon spin communication
• Determination of Interface Atomic Structure and Its Impact on Spin Transport Using Z-Contrast Microscopy and Density-Functional Theory
• Analytical Model of Spin-Polarized Semiconductor Lasers
• Bias-controlled sensitivity of ferromagnet/semiconductor electrical spin detectors
• Spin dynamics in electrochemically charged CdSe quantum dots
• Theory of quantum dot spin-lasers

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• Tailoring Chirp in Spin-Lasers
• A Room-temperature Spin-polarized Polariton Laser
• Spin-polarized lasing in a highly photoexcited semiconductor microcavity
• Wurtzite spin lasers
• Time-Delayed Reservoir Computing Based on Dual-Waveband Quantum-Dot Spin-Polarized Vertical Cavity Surface-Emitting Laser
• Planar arrays of magnetic nanocrystals embedded in GaN
• Waves of spin-current in magnetized dielectrics
• Threshold behavior in spin lasers: Spontaneous emission and nonlinear gain
• Intensity equations for birefringent spin lasers
• Polarization response of spin-lasers under amplitude modulation
• Robustness of n-GaAs Carrier Spin Properties to 5 MeV Proton Irradiation
• The birefringent spin-laser as a system of coupled harmonic oscillators