Radiative and Auger recombination in 1.3 mm InGaAsP and 1.5 mm InGaAs quantum-well lasers measured under high pressure at low and room temperatures

We report on the pressure dependence of the threshold current in 1.3 mm InGaAsP and 1.5 mm InGaAs quantum-well lasers measured at low temperatures ,100 K. It was found that the threshold current of both devices slowly increases with increasing pressure (i.e., increasing band gap) at ,100 K consistent with the calculated variation of the radiative current. In contrast, at room temperature we observed a reduction of the threshold current with increasing pressure. Our low-temperature, high-pressure data confirm the results of previous atmospheric pressure measurements on the same devices which indicated a transition in the dominant recombination mechanism from radiative to Auger as the device temperature is increased from ,100 to 300 K. © 2004 American Institute of Physics. [DOI: 10.1063/1.1772871]