With the rapid development of fiber access networks, data centers, 5th generation cellular networks, and many more, there is an increasing demand for cost effective light sources possessing specification including high frequency modulation efficiency, low noise figure, and high data rate up to 40 Gb/s or even 100 Gb/s. Semiconductor lasers are considered the most attractive candidate in such applications for their low cost, high energy efficiency, and compact size. The focus of this thesis is the development of novel designs of semiconductor DFB lasers for device performance improvement with the help of numerical simulation tools. The governing equations used in the simulation of DFB lasers are briefly explained, which covers the calculation of optical field, carrier transport, material gain, and thermal diffusion. The TWM based on these governing equations are adopted for the numerical laser solver used in the following chapters for device performance simulation. Three novel DFB structures are then proposed in the thesis to achieve different specifications. The first proposed structure is a three-electrode DFB laser which can be directly frequency modulated. Numerical simulation shows that a high frequency modulation efficiency of 26GHz/mA from 0 to 100GHz and 17GHz/mA from 100GHZ to 200GHz can be achieved, respectively. Large-signal simulation of the waveform and eye-diagram of a frequency shift-keying (FSK) signal generated by the laser is also performed by converting it to an amplitude shift-keying (ASK) signal through an optical slope filter. The second proposed structure is a DFB laser with asymmetric λ/8 phase-shifted grating designed to flatten the relaxation oscillation peak through longitudinal spatial hole burning (LSHB) effect. Optimization of the phase-shift position to be 25% (in terms of the total length of the cavity) away from the high reflective (HR)-coated facet leads to reduced power leakage thus a higher quality factor of the cavity. The combined effect provides an improved RIN figure for the proposed DFB laser. The third proposed structure is a DFB laser with periodic current blocking grating. This novel grating is designed to improve the modulation bandwidth of DFB lasers by exploiting the enhancement of net differential gain. The effectiveness of the design is verified numerically, and excellent 3dB bandwidth enhancement are found for both uniform grating and λ/4 phase-shifted grating structures. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / Semiconductor lasers are by far the most ubiquitous of all lasers, with their applications ranging from communication to manufacturing and from cooling of atoms to sensing of minor movement. And as the fabrication technique of semiconductor laser mature, numerical simulation tools now play the critical role in laser development. This thesis focuses on the design and simulation of novel structures for distributed-feedback (DFB) lasers to improve the performance of such devices, including the frequency tuning efficiency, relative intensity noise (RIN), and modulation bandwidth. The proposed new structures and the underlying ideas led to them are thoroughly explained in the thesis. The device performances are also investigated numerically by applying traveling wave method (TWM). Simulation results are presented and discussed to provide design guidelines for the proposed structures.