Numerical study of subband electron temperature effect on a mid-infrared quantum cascade laser output characteristics

We present a self-consistent numerical approach to simulate the output characteristics of a mid-infrared quantum cascade laser, taking into account the effects of both effective subband electron temperature (Te) and optical emission. The current–light (I–L) and current–voltage (I–V) characteristics are simulated with and without the effect of Te. The simulation agrees with the reported experimental results. A comparison between the two cases (with and without optical emission) reveals that optical emission helps bring down the subband effective electron temperature.