Negative differential gain in quantum dot systems: Interplay of structural properties and many-body effects

The saturation behaviour of optical gain with increasing excitation density is an important factor for laser device performance. For active materials based on self-organized InGaAs/GaAs quantum dots, we study the interplay between structural properties of the quantum dots and many-body effects of excited carriers in the optical properties via a combination of tight-binding and quantum-kinetic calculations. We identify regimes where either phase-space filling or excitation-induced dephasing dominates the saturation behavior of the optical gain. The latter can lead to the emergence of a negative differential material gain.