Interband transition matrix element and temperature dependence of the lasing threshold for GaN laser structures

Abstract

By comparing experimental and theoretical radiative recombination spectra, we have determined the values of the square of the matrix element for interband optical transitions |M|² in epitaxial GaN at different temperatures T. The data obtained were used to analyze the mechanism for the temperature dependence of the lasing threshold for a GaN laser. In the experiments, we used epitaxial layers of GaN with a wurtzite crystal structure, grown on Al₂O₃ (0001) substrates and excited by a focused beam from a nitrogen laser. We have shown that the spontaneous emission spectra near the lasing threshold of a GaN laser are consistent with the model of optical interband transitions not obeying a selection rule for the electron wave vector. As we have established, the parameter |M|² practically does not vary for T = 300–470 K: 5.4·10⁻⁷³ kg²·m⁵/sec². Further increase in the temperature leads to an exponential fall-off in |M|² down to 3.4·10⁻⁷³ kg²·m⁵/sec² at T ≈ 520 K. Such behavior of |M|² as a function of temperature correlates with the sudden increase in the nonradiative recombination rate at T > 470 K, and may be connected with a change in the recombination mechanisms in the active layer of the GaN laser in the high temperature region.