Measurement of true spontaneous emission spectra from the facet of diode laser structures

Measurement of the spontaneous emission and gain spectra provides a complete characterization of a semiconductor gain medium, however, this requires the observation of emission in two directions to avoid amplification of the spontaneous emission spectrum. We show that both the gain spectrum and the true spontaneous emission spectrum can be obtained from amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) spectra measured from the end of a segmented-contact device. The spontaneous emission spectra agree with spectra measured through a top contact window. If the carrier populations are fully inverted at low photon energy, it is possible to convert the ASE-derived spontaneous emission into real units.