So this question probably shows my inner model theoretic ignorance, but:
In "Two remarks on elementary embeddings of the universe" (http://projecteuclid.org/download/pdf_1/euclid.pjm/1102969567), Jech defines - for $j: V\rightarrow M$ a definable-with-parameters elementary embedding - an inner model $L(j)$, and proves that $L(j)$ is the smallest inner model which admits $j$ (in the sense that the inner model thinks $j$ is an elementary embedding as well).
This is a neat, short argument, and the definition of $L(j)$ is very straightforward. Naively, I would suspect that properties of the inner model $L(j)$ would tell us interesting information about the embedding $j$, and similarly for models $L(\overline{j})$ defined for sequences of embeddings $\overline{j}$.
For instance, here's a question which seems natural to me: given an inner model $M\subset V$ and a family of embeddings $j_\eta: V\rightarrow M$ $(\eta\in \kappa)$, it's reasonable to ask for which $I\subset \kappa$ is there an inner model $N$ admitting precisely the $j_\eta$ with $\eta\in I$? In particular, given a left distributive algebra of embeddings, which sub-left distributive algebras can be captured this way? Naively, if I want to capture $\{j_\eta: \eta\in I\}$, my first guess would be to look at $L(\{j_\eta: \eta\in I\})$.
NOTE: this isn't my actual question, I'm just including it to motivate interest in the $L(j)$s.
However, I've never run across these models before, and I can't seem to find any recent reference to them. So, my question is:
Are the $L(j)$s interesting at all from the point of view of modern inner model theory? If not, why not, and if so, why doesn't there seem to be any modern literature about them (maybe they are extremely hard to work with, or maybe there is such literature which I just haven't found yet)?
(For my purposes, "modern" means "since 1990.")