Numerical evaluation of effective masses of quantum-well semiconductor lasers based on nitrides systems with self-consistent effects Marek S. Wartak a and Philip Weetman a a Department of Physics and Computer Science, Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3C5, Canada ABSTRACT We analyzed effective masses for In y Ga 1-y As 1-x N x /GaAs quantum-well structures within self-consistent ap- proach by solving 10-band k.p Hamiltonian matrix with the Poisson equation. Both single well and double well systems were considered. Numerical results have been presented for a large range of material and structural pa- rameters. Our results show that significant variation in the effective masses is possible by adjusting the relevant parameters and that the effects due to self-consistency are small. Keywords: quantum wells, effective masses, InGaAsN 1. INTRODUCTION During the eighties and the nineties we have witnessed tremendous progress in the research, development and commercialization of quantum well based semiconductor lasers. 1 A special class of those lasers based on nitride semiconductors has been examined recently. 2 It has been found that replacing a small amount of the group V element by nitrogen in a III-V material system reduces the energy gap. This reduction significantly changes band structure and offers new possibilities of improving optoelectronic properties of devices based on those materials. For example, impressive improvements of in-plane lasers 3, 4 as well a VCSELs 5 based on those materials have been reported. In those developments, an important role was played by simulations. 6 Since the parameter space of design for those devices is enormous, the role played by simulations in establishing the best structure cannot be under- estimated. For a specific device application there is huge number of possible practical combinations of material and structural parameters. From the engineering point of view analysis of the effects of those parameters plays very important role. The comprehensive analysis and understanding of hole effective masses would provide a clear picture for the rather complicated laser design based on those materials. In this paper we report on some efforts to systematically characterize hole effective masses for InGaAsN/GaAs material systems. Recently, preliminary results on in-plane effective masses of the electron subbands in In 0.36 Ga 0.64 As 1-x N x /GaAs have been reported, 10 11 for the well widths between 2 and 25 nm and N composition of 1-4%. The composition is chosen for the purpose of obtaining light output in the 1.3μm range. 10, 11 We expand upon this work by analyzing the effects of well width and N composition on the valence band effective masses. In the submitted work, a systematic analysis of the electrostatic effects on the effective masses of holes in In y Ga 1-y As 1-x N x /GaAs quantum-well structures is performed. A 10-band k.p Hamiltonian matrix was used in the calculations and solved self-consistently with the Poisson equation. Numerical results have been presented for a large range of material and structural parameters. Our results show that significant variation in the effective masses is possible by adjusting the relevant parameters and that the effects due to self-consistency are small. Some of the preliminary results of the research presented in the present paper have been previously pub- lished. 12 Further author information: (Send correspondence to M.S.W.) M.S.W.: E-mail: mwartak@wlu.ca, Telephone: 1 519 884 1970, ext. 2436 P.W.: E-mail:pweetman@eml.cc, Telephone: 1 519 884 1970, ext.2685 Semiconductor Lasers and Laser Dynamics II, edited by Daan Lenstra, Markus Pessa, Ian H. White, Proc. of SPIE Vol. 6184, 61841A, (2006) · 0277-786X/06/$15 · doi: 10.1117/12.673125 Proc. of SPIE Vol. 6184 61841A-1