Optoelectronic device simulations based on macroscopic Maxwell-Bloch equations

TL;DR

This review discusses the application of macroscopic Maxwell-Bloch equations to advanced optoelectronic devices, highlighting analytical solutions, numerical methods, and extensions relevant for modeling quantum lasers and semiconductor structures.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of the derivation, analytical solutions, numerical schemes, and extensions of the Maxwell-Bloch equations for optoelectronic device modeling.

Findings

Comparison of numerical schemes with and without rotating wave approximation

Derivation of one-dimensional MB equations for semiconductor waveguides

Discussion of effects like spatial hole burning and inhomogeneous broadening

Abstract

Due to their intuitiveness, flexibility and relative numerical efficiency, the macroscopic Maxwell-Bloch (MB) equations are a widely used semiclassical and semi-phenomenological model to describe optical propagation and coherent light-matter interaction in media consisting of discrete-level quantum systems. This review focuses on the application of this model to advanced optoelectronic devices, such as quantum cascade and quantum dot lasers. The Bloch equations are here treated as a density matrix model for driven quantum systems with two or multiple discrete energy levels, where dissipation is included by Lindblad terms. Furthermore, the one-dimensional MB equations for semiconductor waveguide structures and optical fibers are rigorously derived. Special analytical solutions and suitable numerical methods are presented. Due to the importance of the MB equations in computational electrodynamics, an emphasis is placed on the comparison of different numerical schemes, both with and without the rotating wave approximation. The implementation of additional effects which can become relevant in semiconductor structures, such as spatial hole burning, inhomogeneous broadening and local-field corrections, is discussed. Finally, links to microscopic models and suitable extensions of the Lindblad formalism are briefly addressed.