Non-Markovian gain of strained-layer wurtzite GaN quantum-well lasers with many-body effects

Abstract

A theoretical model for the optical gain of strained-layer wurtzite GaN quantum-well (QW) lasers is developed taking into account valence-band mixing, many-body effects and non-Markovian relaxation. The valence-band structure is calculated from a 6/spl times/6 multiband effective mass Hamiltonian for the wurtzite structure taking into account built-in strain due to lattice mismatch. The theoretical foundation for the optical processes is based on the time-convolutionless reduced-density operator formalism given in previous papers for an arbitrary driven system coupled to a stochastic reservoir. Many-body effects are taken into account within the time-dependent Hartree-Fock approximation and the optical gain with Coulomb (or excitonic) enhancement is derived by integrating the equation of motion for the interband polarization. It is predicted that the Coulomb enhancement of gain is pronounced with increasing magnitude of compressive strain in the QW.