Cathodoluminescence (CL) analysis of high power laser diodes permits to reveal the main defects issued from the catastrophic optical degradation (COD). These defects are revealed as discontinuous dark lines along the ridge. The different levels of damage are analysed, and a thermomechanical model taking account of the thermal and mechanical properties of the laser structure is settled up. In this model the COD is described as a local temperature enhancement, which generates thermal stresses leading to the generation of dislocations, which are responsible for the degradation of the thermal conductivity of the of the active zone of the laser.
The infrared emission from 980-nm single-mode high power diode lasers is analyzed in the wavelength range from 0.8 to 7.0 μm. A pronounced short-wavelength infrared (SWIR) emission band with a maximum at 1.3 μm is found to originate from defect states located within the waveguide of the devices. The SWIR intensity is verified to represent a measure of the non-equilibrium carrier concentration in the waveguide, allowing for non-destructive waveguide mapping in spatially resolved detection schemes. The potential of this approach is demonstrated by measuring spatially resolved profiles of SWIR emission and correlating them with mid-wavelength infrared thermal emission along the cavity of devices undergoing repeated catastrophic optical damage. The enhancement of SWIR emission in the damaged parts of the cavity is due to a locally enhanced carrier density in the waveguide and allows for in situ analysis of the damage patterns. Moreover, spatial resolved SWIR measurements are a promising tool for device inspecting even in low-power operation regimes.
In this study, we report on a methodology based on reverse and forward current-voltage curves (I-V) and on Degree of Polarization (DoP) of electroluminescence measurements on 980 nm laser diodes chip-on-submount (CoS) for the improvement of screening tests. Current-voltage curves are performed at reverse bias up to breakdown voltage (VBR) using both a high current accuracy (< 1 pA) and high voltage resolution (< 10 mV) at different submount-temperatures (20-50°C). The DoP of luminescence of such devices, related to strains in materials and effect of shear strain on the birefringence, is calculated from the simultaneous measurement of TE (LTE) and TM (LTM) polarized light emissions. We observe that application of high reverse voltages occasionally produces significant micro-plasma (MP) pre-breakdown on reverse I-V characteristics as recently observed in InGaN/GaN LEDs and assumed to be a response of electrically active defects. Comparisons between breakdown voltages and number of MP, and changes of leakage current at low forward voltage (< 0.1 V) are considered. DoP measurements are also analyzed versus temperature. Finally the usefulness of these measurements for effective screening of devices is discussed.
Internal degradation of 980 nm emitting single-spatial-mode diode lasers during ultrahigh power operation is investigated for pulsed operation (2 μJ, 20 W). Analysis of the evolution of the emission nearfield with picosecond time resolution enables the observation of the transition from single- to multi-spatial-mode operation at elevated emission powers. Moreover, internal degradation events and subsequent defect propagation processes are in situ monitored by thermal imaging. Subsequently, these devices are opened and defect pattern are inspected by cathodo- and photoluminescence spectroscopy. The results complete earlier findings obtained with broad-area lasers and help to establish models covering defect generation and propagation in edge-emitting devices in general.
High power 14xx laser pumps are more and more required for eye safe industrial, medical, safety and defense
applications as well as for increased telecom network capability (e.g. for 100 Gb Ethernet). However, this need of high
power requires to control the overall power consumption in a range in line with systems requirements. In this respect, 3S
PHOTONICS has developed a 14xx nm single mode laser diode with record internal losses of 1.5 cm-1 compared to the
2.7 cm-1 reported up to now. These lasers are based on p/nBH technology and use the asymmetric waveguide concept to
reduce internal losses. The record loss value, coupled to an internal efficiency higher than 0.8, allows realization lasers of
3 mm length with external efficiency higher than 0.5 W.A-1 at 25°C in AR/HR coating configuration. Modules using
direct coupling technology were realized. High coupling efficiency is obtained thanks to the 8° x 14° far field pattern of
the diode. Output power of 550 mW at 1.8 A is thus obtained, with or without FBG stabilization, with maximum output
power above 700mW. Thanks to the lasers' length, voltage at this current level is below 1.9 V, which gives a reduced
thermal load. Thus, the overall modules electrical consumption remains lower than 10 W at case temperatures ranging
from 0°C to 75°C. The 3 mm length also guaranties high reliability of these laser diodes.
Bonding-induced mechanical stress in GaAs-based laser diodes is studied by numerical and experimental techniques.
This stress, induced by the soldering processes, appears when cooling down the assembly because of Coefficient of
Thermal Expansion (CTE) mismatch, and dimensional disparities. Detailed mechanisms taking place are not fully
understood. Residual stress is also known to influence device reliability. Composite submounts studied are composed of
a CuW heat spreader on an AlN bottom plate in standard and optimized designs to lower mechanical stress levels. CuW
shows a high thermal conductivity and a matched CTE with GaAs. Plain AlN submounts are studied as a reference. The
numerical technique is a Finite Element Method calculation to compute the stress tensor induced in GaAs-based laser
diodes during the soldering process on submounts with 80-20 AuSn eutectic solder pads. Starting with 31 MPa on the
plain AlN submount, the standard composite submount gives 23.5 MPa while the optimized version is as low as 12 MPa.
The experimental technique consists of Degree of Polarization (DoP) measurements of the photoluminescence emitted
by a planarized diode bonded to a submount. From the DoP, relative stress variations induced by the submount are
estimated. Starting with DoP referenced at 100% on plain AlN submounts, the standard composite submount gives 46%
DoP reduction while the optimized version is expected to exhibit a reduction larger than 65%. Composite submounts
with reduced mechanical stress and preserved thermal properties were studied experimentally and theoretically. An
optimized design allows reducing the mechanical stress by a factor 2.5 at least.
Most Pulsed Fiber Lasers (FLs) are built on a Master Oscillator - Power Amplifier (MOPA) architecture, as this
configuration has the advantage, among others, of exploiting direct modulation of the diode laser seed (the MO) to reach
high repetition rates and high peak-power pulsed operation. To enhance the FL global performance and reliability, high
power single-lateral-mode 1064 nm diodes with outstanding long-term behavior are needed. The reliability of these
devices at high power has been a challenge for years, due to the high built-in strain in the Quantum Well (QW). In this
paper, we present excellent reliability results obtained, in both cw and pulsed conditions, on the latest generation of 1064
nm single-lateral-mode diodes developed at 3S PHOTONICS. Aging tests in cw conditions prove the intrinsic robustness
of the diode even at very high junction temperatures, while specific tests in pulsed operation at 45 °C heat-sink
temperature, and high repetition rates of several hundred kHz, confirm the stability of the devices in accelerated
conditions directly derived from real applications. Both free-running and wavelength stabilized (by means of a Fiber
Bragg Grating (FBG)) packaged devices show very stable performances under pulsed conditions. Reliable operation at
higher average power than currently commercially available diode lasers seeds is demonstrated.
M. Bettiati, V. Cargemel, P. Pagnod, C. Hervo, P. Garabedian, P. Issert, L. Raymond, L. Ragot, J.-C. Bertreux, J.-N. Reygrobellet, C. Crusson, F. Laruelle
Single-mode 980 nm pump lasers are mature products needed in an increasing range of applications and their power
level has been constantly raised in the last fifteen years from a few tens of mW for the first generations of devices up to
the current maximum level of 750 mW fiber-coupled output power. As the fiber output power increases, new
applications provide positive feed-back to continue the development of these devices, although severe constraints are
imposed both by reliability and the need for wavelength stabilization, which is generally built on the utilization of Fiber
Bragg Gratings (FBGs). We have developed in 2005 a record saturation power device (Psat=2.35W @ 25 °C, for 3.9
mm cavity lengths) whose fiber-coupled power has reached 750 mW for 25 °C cooled applications, limited mainly by
reliability as wavelength stabilization was already demonstrated up to levels above 1 Watt. 3S PHOTONICS has now
developed a new generation of powerful and reliable devices that allow foreseeing operation at or close to 1W for cooled
applications. We have further optimized the vertical structure to reduce the internal losses, and to reduce the junction
temperature for increased reliability. High kink-currents around 2.5 A have been measured on the best devices. The gain
bandwidth has been engineered to allow maintaining the wavelength stabilization even on very long laser cavities.
Encouraging preliminary reliability results have also been obtained.
We demonstrate very high reliability level on 980-1060nm high-power single-mode lasers through multi-cell tests. First,
we show how our chip design and technology enables high reliability levels. Then, we aged 758 devices during 9500
hours among 6 cells with high current (0.8A-1.2A) and high submount temperature (65°C-105°C) for the reliability
demonstration. Sudden catastrophic failure is the main degradation mechanism observed. A statistical failure rate model
gives an Arrhenius thermal activation energy of 0.51eV and a power law forward current acceleration factor of 5.9. For
high-power submarine applications (360mW pump module output optical power), this model exhibits a failure rate as
low as 9 FIT at 13°C, while ultra-high power terrestrial modules (600mW) lie below 220 FIT at 25°C. Wear-out
phenomena is observed only for very high current level without any reliability impact under 1.1A.
For the 1060nm chip, step-stress tests were performed and a set of devices were aged during more than 2000 hours in
different stress conditions. First results are in accordance with 980nm product with more than 100khours estimated
MTTF. These reliability and performance features of 980-1060nm laser diodes will make high-power single-mode
emitters the best choice for a number of telecommunication and industrial applications in the next few years.
We report on the development of a new generation of very high power 980 nm single lateral mode ridge-waveguide quantum-well lasers. An asymmetric-waveguides vertical structure has been optimized for very low internal losses while keeping the vertical mode-size large, thus allowing a low vertical far-field beam angle of less than 19°. Careful optimization of the doping profiles, and epitaxial interfaces optimization for reduced scattering, allowed to obtain internal losses as low as 0.6-0.7 cm-1. Such low losses are necessary to keep the external efficiency high in very long cavities, together with a high internal quantum efficiency. We thus reached our goal of keeping the external efficiency above 70% even for cavity lengths of 4.5 mm. The flared ridge waveguide has been designed to strongly filter higher order lateral modes, and kink-free operation has been obtained up to over 1.5 W output power, with very stable vertical and horizontal beam patterns. High saturation powers above 2 W have also been demonstrated at 25°C, and over 1.5 W at 75°C. Wavelength stabilized chips, by means of a fiber Bragg grating, reached linear fiber powers above 1.0 W with strong suppression of gain-peak lasing at all currents and good power stability.
The knowledge of the noise levels is important for pump laser diodes as it allows to study and to locate the noise sources and their origin. 980 nm fresh and aged pump laser have been characterized by using electrical and optical noise measurements. In this work, we present the electrical and optical noises at low - medium frequency for fresh pump laser diodes emitting at 980 nm (reference laser), and we study the parametric evolution and the defects generated in aged 980nm single-mode ridge lasers, stressed during 400hrs at 50°C and high current injection (500 mA) (aged laser). The dynamic resistance, above threshold current, is not constant. It shows a proportionality of about RdμI-1/2. The injection of the carriers is associated to space charge limited current effect (SCLC). The study of the electrical and optical noise which represents the fluctuations of intensity at low and medium frequency is very significant of degradation of the active layer. The spectra are dominated by 1/f (fliker) noise at very weak current. And at weak current, the Current Noise Spectrale Density (CNSD) at 10 Hz is dominated by I3/2. The deffect is associated with carrier transport controlled by the interfaces n+n- and p+p- and the trapping defect density near the n+n- and p+p- interfaces, also it due to pinching of the space charge limited current SCLC effect An excess noise due to longitudinal mode hopping is related with output power fluctuations.
Access to the requested content is limited to institutions that have purchased or subscribe to SPIE eBooks.
You are receiving this notice because your organization may not have SPIE eBooks access.*
*Shibboleth/Open Athens users─please
sign in
to access your institution's subscriptions.
To obtain this item, you may purchase the complete book in print or electronic format on
SPIE.org.
INSTITUTIONAL Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.
PERSONAL Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.