A robust electro-optothermal coupling scheme for semiconductor laser simulation

Rafael Santschi; Hektor Meier; Stefan Odermatt

doi:10.1117/12.758933

22 February 2008 A robust electro-optothermal coupling scheme for semiconductor laser simulation

Rafael Santschi, Hektor Meier, Stefan Odermatt

Proceedings Volume 6889, Physics and Simulation of Optoelectronic Devices XVI; 68890I (2008) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.758933
Event: Integrated Optoelectronic Devices 2008, 2008, San Jose, California, United States

Abstract

The coupling of electrothermal and optical models in multidimensional semiconductor laser simulation is a non-trivial task: While electrothermal models are conveniently formulated in a system of partial differential equations, the optical problem necessitates the solution of Maxwell's equations with results in eigenvalue problems with the eigenvalues representing lasing wavelengths and losses of the laser's modes. The state-of-the-art approach to achieve a self-consistent electro-optothermal solution os a Gummel-type iteration where the electrothermal equations (using a Newton scheme), and the optical eigenvalue problems are solved iteratively until a convergence criterion is reached. This is extremely time-consuming and unstable, especially for simulation of devices featuring closely spaced multiple modes (for example broad area lasers, VCSELs). In this work, we present a novel numerical electro-optothermal coupling scheme for semiconductor lasers which is based on the integration of the optical eigenvalue into a single global Newton formulation, The necessary derivatives are obtained by perturbation theory. The proposed scheme is more robust and decreases the computational burden (simulation time) by more than an order of magnitude compared to Gummel-type interations. This novel coupling scheme allows to investigate the influence of the electro-optothermal coupling on the device characteristics and internal physics. The effects of bias conditions on the modal dynamics, optical wavelengths, losses, and far-field patterns are analyzed. For a VCSEL, we quantify the role of gain guiding and thermal lensing.

Citation Download Citation

Rafael Santschi, Hektor Meier, and Stefan Odermatt "A robust electro-optothermal coupling scheme for semiconductor laser simulation", Proc. SPIE 6889, Physics and Simulation of Optoelectronic Devices XVI, 68890I (22 February 2008); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.758933

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KEYWORDS

Optical simulations

Semiconductor lasers

Information technology

Fourier transforms

Physics

Vertical cavity surface emitting lasers

Maxwell's equations

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