Performance analysis of lateral p–n junction laser-transistor.

We study the performance of a lateral p -- n junction quantum-well edge-emitting laser-transistor with an extra gate contact. The incorporation of the gate contact provides an opportunity to control the threshold current and output optical power by the gate voltage. The application of negative gate voltages can lead to a substantial decrease in the threshold current. This is due to the confinement of the electrons injected into the p-type portion of the quantum well serving as the active region. Using the developed device model, we calculate the laser-transistor threshold and output characteristics. We also estimate the device cutoff modulation frequency associated with the gate recharging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]