Limitations of active carrier removal in silicon Raman amplifiers and lasers

The lifetime of two-photon generated carriers has been established as the critical parameter that determines the performance of silicon Raman lasers and amplifiers since it determines the optical loss. Here, we investigate the intensity dependence of the carrier lifetime in the case where the carriers are swept out by means of a p-n junction. Numerical simulations show that at sufficiently high pump intensities, the generated carriers screen the applied electric field and therefore result in a higher lifetime and hence a lower net Raman gain. We also quantify the electrical power dissipation necessary to maintain low optical losses. (c) 2005 American Institute of Physics.