Mechanisms of laser action in epitaxial InAs subjected to electron beam excitation

Investigations were made of the spectral and power characteristics of electron-beam-excited epitaxial InAs lasers as a function of the carrier density, excitation rate, and temperature (80–220°K). The main laser action channels were interband and shallow acceptor levels, transitions to impurity states giving the highest efficiency (up to 2%). It was found that the main mechanism which reduces the efficiency of these lasers is nonradiative interband and impurity Auger recombination of nonequilibrium carriers whose probability in this compound increases as a result of the participation of a spin-orbit-split valence subband in the Auger processes.