Semiconductor laser simulations using non-equilibrium Green's functions

We present a novel method to simulate quantum well, edge-emitting semiconductor lasers in non-equilibrium steady-state. Our method is based on non-equilibrium Green's functions approach which allows for a fully quantum mechanical description of carrier and photon dynamics. This microscopic approach significantly reduces the number of phenomenological parameters needed to simulate laser. General equations for photon Green's functions and polarizations are derived as well as their coupling to electron Green's functions through self-energies. Series of approximations are done to photon Green's function to allow for efficient numerical approach. All equations are written in the non-orthogonal basis suitable for numerical calculations. As an example, the theory is applied to analyze Al0.2Ga0.8As/GaAs quantum well laser with the effective mass Hamiltonian. Major laser characteristics such as material and modal gain, threshold parameters, carrier and current densities were determined. (C) 2012 American Institute of Physics. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.3689324]