After successful completion of the course, students are able to apply their theoretical knowledge to design and optimize new devices.

The relevant theoretical background on semiconductor optoelectronic devices includes kp-theory, envelope function theory for heterostructures, scattering processes and optical properties, as well as Maxwell-Bloch theory for laser dynamics.  They will learn skills in numerical techniques using Python, how to solve Eigenvalue problems or dynamic equations and how to connect and properly fit models to measured data.

The lecture part of this course provides an overview of the theoretical background to intuitively explain and physically describe semiconductor lasers and optoelectronic devices. In the exercises we will apply the gained knowledge using numerical techniques to get a better insight into the principles of lasers. We focus on one particular type of laser -- the quantum cascade laser -- and go through all relevant aspects, including wavefunctions in quantum wells, scattering processes, optical properties of semiconductors, laser cavities, etc. The gained knowledge will be relevant for all optoelectronic devices and the thought skills to apply theoretical knowledge to practical applications is relevant in any field.

Lecture to teach the theoretical background.

Applied exerciseswith Python 3.7 and numpy to learn the design of semiconductor lasers.

The course will be blocked on 5 afternoons, with a 50 min lecture followed by a small break and a 4 hour tutorial modeling exercises.

Oral Exam on the theoretical basics and ongoing performance record during the exercises.

Knowledge of semiconductor physics and photonics.

Skills in python 3.7 and knowledge on numpy arrays are required (e.g. VU Scientific Programming in Python or online tutorials).