Photon-induced carrier transport in high efficiency midinfrared quantum cascade lasers

A midinfrared quantum cascade laser with high wall-plug efficiency is analyzed by means of an ensemble Monte Carlo method. Both the carrier transport and the cavity field dynamics are included in the simulation, offering a self-consistent approach for analyzing and optimizing the laser operation. It is shown that at low temperatures, photon emission and absorption can govern the carrier transport in such devices. Furthermore, we find that photon-induced scattering can strongly affect the kinetic electron distributions within the subbands. Our results are validated against available experimental data. (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3608116]