Effect of barrier recombination on the high temperature performance of quaternary multiquantum well lasers

We use spectrally resolved measurements of spontaneous emission to investigate the temperature characteristics of strained and lattice matched InGaAsP multiquantum well lasers. Carrier overflow into the barriers and separate confinement layers and the resulting recombination are demonstrated to be an important factor limiting high temperature performances in these devices. The barrier recombination does not saturate above threshold, instead it increases with the drive current. This effect is further enhanced with increased temperature. We show that the reduction in the barrier recombination correlates quantitatively with increased high temperature slope efficiency.