A KAPPA-CENTER-DOT-P MODEL FOR CARRIER CAPTURE BY A QUANTUM-WELL

A k . p model for electron and hole capture by a quantum well has been applied to the, calculation of the rates for capture via phonon and alloy scattering by a 30 Angstrom In0.7Ga0.3As-InGaAsP quantum well, a system which is suitable for lasers operating at a wavelength of 1.55 mu m. The standard approach to carrier capture by a quantum well, namely the application of Fermi's Golden Rule, has been adapted in order to derive the dimensionless local capture efficiency per unit incident particle current density. This has the advantage that the capture data can be more readily incorporated into many-particle transport simulations of quantum well lasers. Structure is observed in the capture efficiency as a function of the energy and in-plane wavevector of the incident carrier. This is partly attributed to instances where incident electrons or holes in barrier states undergo strong transmission into the well region, but mixing between the quantum well subbands is also important through the effect upon both the density of final states and the scattering matrix elements for capture transitions.