Abstract
Gain nonlinearities play an important role in determining the dynamic response and modulation performance of semiconductor lasers.1 A detailed understanding of the processes contributing to the nonlinear gain is important in identifying the fundamental limits to the bandwidth of very high speed semiconductor lasers. Several theories of gain nonlinearities in semiconductor lasers have been developed. However, these theories have yet to produce results in quantitative agreement with experiments sufficient to discern unambiguously the exact physical mechanisms involved. Most theories are based on the rate equation approximation. That is, the rate equations are obtained by adiabaticaily eliminating the polarization from the laser equations of motion. Using an exact elimination procedure for the polarization, we show that corrections to the adiabatic approximation give rise to a nonlinear gain term in the rate equations due to carrier density-dependent dispersion in the gain medium.
© 1989 Optical Society of America
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