Abstract

A major question in the theory of the semiconductor laser is why it often runs multimode. We treat certain aspects of the multimode problem in extension of the results given by Sargent et al.¹ They considered multiwave interactions with intermode beat frequencies that are small compared to the carrier-carrier scattering rate. They found significant changes in mode coupling due to population pulsations in the total carrier density. Their theory assumes that the individual k-dependent carrier densities are given in terms of the total carrier density by quasi-Fermi-Dirac distributions. In this work, we generalize this treatment to consider beat frequencies as big or bigger than the carrier-carrier scattering rate.

© 1990 Optical Society of America