Mode rolling effects in nitride laser diodes

Abstract

Abstract Due to their small separation of longitudinal modes, Fabry-Pérot type laser diodes show rich mode competition effects. We present streak camera measurements of two nitride laser diodes with different cavity lengths and model them using a fully dynamic model based on the semiconductor Bloch equations, obtaining good agreement. Both theory and experiment show that the different mode spacing has a large influence on the interactions between longitudinal modes. In contrast to rate-equation type models, our approach includes the detailed density distribution as well as the derivation of the relevant parameters, e.g. broadening, from standard material quantities, thus setting a milestone on the way towards a fully predictive laser model.