Evolution of light‐current characteristic shape in high‐power semiconductor quantum well lasers

The light-current characteristic (LCC) of semiconductor quantum well lasers is theoretically studied. It is discussed here that, due to internal optical absorption loss, which depends on the electron and hole densities in the optical confinement layer, (i) roll-over of the LCC occurs with increasing injection current, and, (ii) depending on the parameters of laser structures, the LCC can have two branches, i.e. the optical emission at two different output powers will be possible within a certain range of injection currents.