title: Output characteristics of pulsed and continuous-wave-excited quantum-dot microcavity lasers.
abstract: In the rapidly evolving field of quantum-dot-based microcavity lasers the device characterization is of great importance. In this Letter, we study how information can be obtained from the input/output curve by using a microscopic laser theory for the coupled cavity-quantum-dot system. Semiconductor effects such as a nonlinear source term of spontaneous emission, Pauli blocking, and the absence of complete carrier inversion lead to significant deviations from atomic systems. Especially for pulsed excitation, saturation effects have a tremendous impact on the input/output characteristics and render a simple determination of the spontaneous emission coupling beta impossible.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Theoretical Physics, University of Bremen, P.O. Box 330 440, 28334 Bremen, Germany.
authors.forename: Christopher
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Gies
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wiersig
authors.forename: Frank
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Jahnke