  Under continuous-wave laser excitation in an InGaAs multi-quantum-well (MQW)
structure, the carrier temperature extracted from photoluminescence rises
faster for 405 nm excitation compared with 980 nm excitation, as the injected
carrier density increases. Ensemble Monte Carlo simulation of the carrier
dynamics in the MQW system shows that this carrier temperature rise is
dominated by nonequilibrium LO phonon effects, with the Pauli exclusion having
a significant effect at high carrier densities. Further, we find a significant
fraction of carriers reside in the satellite L-valleys for 405 nm excitation
due to strong intervalley transfer, leading to a cooler steady-state electron
temperature in the central valley compared with the case when intervalley
transfer is excluded from the model. Good agreement between experiment and
simulation has been shown, and a detailed analysis has been presented. This
study expands our knowledge of the dynamics of the hot carrier population in
semiconductors, which can be applied to further limit energy loss in solar
cells.
