Fermi Controlled Recombination as a Junction Design Factor in GaAs Laser Diodes†

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Abstract
The observation that the deliberate introduction of shallow donors in the p-type side of GaAs lasers resulted in a greatly improved efficiency in radiative recombination has been fully confirmed and found to be quite general. Our earlier field effect experiments indicate that this enhancement is due to a critical separation of the intrinsic and actual Fermi levels in the space charge region rather than to donor–acceptor transitions. A qualitative model, consistent with experimental observations and supporting this conclusion, is presented and used in the design of improved lasers yielding total peak power outputs in excess of 23 w at room temperature.