Impact of Resonant Tunneling on Optical Properties of InAs/InP Quantum Dot Lasers

Electronic coupling within InAs/InP quantum dots (QDs) influences carrier lifetime and thus QD laser performance. In this work, vertical electronic coupling between QDs is theoretically investigated based on a structure of five-layer QD stacks. This analysis illustrates that the resonant tunneling, a consequence of coherent coupling between QDs, should be considered for carrier redistribution. The carrier tunneling time of ground states is estimated by studying two structures of uniform and chirped five-layer QD stacks. The impact of resonant tunneling on optical properties of InAs/InP QD Fabery–Perot (FP) lasers, such as threshold current, light power-current temperature dependence, and relative intensity noise, is investigated through a comparison of uniform and chirped QD lasers. It is found that the carrier resonant tunneling leads to an increase in the threshold current, low characteristic temperature, and high relative intensity noise. By using the chirped QD stacks, the optical properties are improved thanks to less resonant tunneling.