Physics of Semiconductor Lasers
Speaker: Prof. Weng Chow, Sandia National Labs
Series: Other Events
Location: J223 Equad
Date/Time: Wednesday, March 14, 2012, 6:00 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
These introductory lectures will highlight the insight gained from theoretical studies of semiconductor lasers. Effects of band-structure and Coulomb interaction among carriers impacting semiconductor laser operation and their incorporation into a conceptually straightforward theory will be described. A
noteworthy success of the theory, the solution to the longstanding semiconductor-gain lineshape problem, will be discussed. Also presented are examples illustrating quantum confinement and many-body influences in laser systems, such as vertical-cavity surfaceemitting lasers (VCSELs), wide-bandgap III-N gain materials and quantum-dot lasers.
Weng Chow works at Sandia National Laboratories, where his primary research interest is in the application of microscopic theory to semiconductor laser development. Some of this work is described in two texts, Semiconductor-Laser Physics and Semiconductor-Laser Fundamentals: Physics of the Gain Materials. He is Honorary Professor of Physics at Cardiff University, fellow of OSA and IEEE, and was an IEEE JQE associate editor. Also, he is recipient of the DOE Basic Energy Science, LEOS Distinguished Lecturer and Alexander von Humboldt Senior Scientist Awards.