Microscopic theory for intersubband spontaneous emission

The amplified spontaneous emission spectra of quantum-cascade laser structures is computed with a Keldysh Green’s functions theory. We show that the emission spectra are sharpened in comparison to gain spectra due to wave guide propagation. In addition the different dependence on level occupation causes moderate differences between gain and emission peak positions. Our fit-parameter-free theory is valid in ranges of strong nonequilibrium, where fit-parameters do not even exist.