Simulated [111] Si-SiGe terahertz quantum cascade laser

The prospect of developing a silicon laser has long been an elusive goal, mainly due to the indirect band gap and large effective carrier masses. We present a design for a terahertz intersubband laser grown on the [111] crystal plane and simulate performance using a rate equation method including scattering due to alloy disorder, interface roughness, carrier-phonon, and Coulombic interactions. We predict gain greater than 40 cm(-1) and a threshold current density of 70 A/cm(2).