The density of electronic states at the lasing energy is of importance in determining the current densities required to achieve inversion, once the volume of the active element is defined. The magnitude of this gain is also a function of the radiative matrix element, and, in the case of high cavity powers, the rate at which carriers may be supplied. At first glance, a low density of states is attractive to minimize the threshold current of the laser. However, a real laser incorporates a lossy waveguide and facets. At least one of these facets should have moderate reflectivity to emit light, yet introduces further losses to the ideal system. Lasing is achieved when gain overcomes all losses. Therefore, a density of electronic states sufficient to provide gain to overcome these losses is a key requirement.
It is also important to remember that semiconductor materials form bands of states, so the kinetic energy of carriers, inhomogeneity of the material, and homogeneous broadening (e.g., carrier lifetime broadening due to free carriers and phonon scattering) all act to broaden the gain spectrum. The characteristics of a particular material and heterostructure with regard to the effects of current and temperature on the gain spectrum are therefore of critical importance to the operation of a laser. These characteristics not only determine the static, but also the dynamic performance of the laser diode. In addition to the characteristics of the semiconductor material, the dimensionality of the charge carriers in a system determines the form of the density of electronic states.
Figure 1.2 shows a schematic of the density of states as a function of dimensionality, going from bulk (3D) to QD (0D) systems. The move to a quantum well (QW) structure removes a kinetic energy component from one spatial direction from the total energy of the carrier, replacing it with a quantum confinement energy. This step-like density of states is beneficial as the radiative rate is enhanced as compared to the bulk material, and carriers are concentrated at a specific wavelength. For bulk materials, the joint density of states (the product of electron and hole densities of state) is very low at the band gap, yet these states must be filled in order to access energies where gain may be sufficient to overcome cavity losses. The carriers used to fill these states are essentially wasted. A simple, yet nontrivial advantage of a QW active element over bulk is the reduction in volume, which goes hand-in-hand with a reduction in drive current. This (along with more efficient use of carriers) ameliorates many problems for semiconductor lasers associated with large currents and finite resistance, resulting in large joule heating effects.