High power asymmetric 980nm broad-waveguide diode lasers with current blocking layer

High power, 0.81-μm-emitting, semiconductor diode lasers are used as pump sources for Nd:YAG solid-state lasers. Devices (1-mm-long) consisting of a InGaAsP/In0.5(Ga0.9Al0.1)0.5P/In0.5(Ga0.5Al0.5)0.5P laser structure provide a threshold-current density, Jth, of 290 A/cm2 and a relatively high threshold-current characteristic temperature, T0 (140 K). Uncoated diode lasers (1.2-mm-long) have a maximum continuous wave output power of 5 W (both facets) at 20 °C. The internal power density at catastrophic optical mirror damage (COMD), P̄COMD, is determined to be 9.1 MW/cm2; that is, 1.8 times that for GaAs-active layer, Al-free, uncoated devices. Coated, InGaAsP-active devices are expected to have P̄COMD=18 MW/cm2, more than twice the P̄COMD of AlGaAs-active, 0.81-μm-emitting devices with the same emitting aperture. Therefore, 0.81-μm-emitting, InGaAsP-active diode lasers should operate reliably at powers at least twice those of AlGaAs-based devices with the same contact-stripe geometry.

Q-switched Nd-based lasers are used for a variety of medical and manufacturing applications and benefit from a high efficiency and stable diode pump, but limited commercially available solutions exist for single spatial mode direct pumping of Nd-based lasers at 885 nm. To satisfy this need, Freedom Photonics has developed ultra-robust watt-class diffractionlimited 885 nm diode lasers. We have demonstrated single-mode 885 nm diode lasers with an output power of <1.8 W (1 W rated) and 49% electricalto-optical efficiency. We employ facet passivation methods to protect against catastrophic optical mirror damage (COMD), and the optical power density we have demonstrated points to an effective facet passivation strategy. These devices may be used as high efficiency pumps for Nd-doped solid-state lasers.

Q-switched Nd-based lasers are used for a variety of medical and manufacturing applications and require extremely high efficiency and stability from the diode pump, but limited commercially available solutions exist for single spatial mode direct pumping of Nd-based lasers at 885 nm. To satisfy this need, Freedom Photonics has developed ultra-robust watt-class diffraction-limited 885 nm diode lasers. We are in the process of performing full reliability and lifetime assessments on our watt-class single-mode 885 nm diode lasers. To achieve high reliability, we employ facet passivation methods to protect against catastrophic optical mirror damage (COMD). Additionally, progress on the development of VBG-locked packages will be discussed. These devices may be used as reliable, high efficiency pumps for Nd-doped solid-state lasers.

In this paper, optimization works on the technology of passivation and optical coatings of laser diode facets are described. The main goal is to increase the optical power at which the catastrophic optical mirror damage occurs. The coatings and passivation processes have been done in an ion source-aided electron-beam evaporator. The essence of passivation was to remove native oxides and produce a native thin nitride layer with simultaneous saturation of the dangling atomic bonds. The procedure has been realized with the help of nitrogen or forming gas (N2 + H2) beam. As a result, we present sets of technological parameters allowing to increase the catastrophic optical mirror damage threshold of diode lasers.

Improved performance of lateral GaN-based light emitting diodes with novel buried CBL structure in ITO film and reflective electrodes

Improper back-coupling of optical feedback is a known cause for accelerated gradual degradation as well as catastrophic optical mirror damage of GaAs-based high-power semiconductor lasers. For those material systems emitting below the GaAs bandgap (870 nm at room temperature), such damage is induced by feedback-light absorption in the non-transparent cap layers and substrate, which intensifies the heating of the area close to the emission facet. For InGaAs/AlGaAs-based diode lasers in the spectral range from 880 to 1060 nm, however, all passive layers as well as the substrate are, with respect to interband absorption, transparent for the lasing wavelength so that, in this case, the degrading mechanism of misaligned optical feedback could not be explained entirely. By use of an experimental multi-device study of 950-nm broad-area lasers, we demonstrate that the threshold of catastrophic optical damage is decreased the most by positioning the feedback return spot such that it covers the p-side solder and the highly p-doped semiconductor layers. By means of thermoreflectance microscopy in conjunction with numerical simulations we find that such low damage thresholds are caused by a strong localization of the absorption of feedback light close to the laser front facet.

Continued improvements in broad-area InGaAs-AlGaAs strained quantum well (QW) lasers have led to unprecedented performance characteristics in these lasers including optical output powers of over 20 W and power conversion efficiencies of over 70% under CW operation. Catastrophic optical mirror damage (COMD) is responsible for failures in (Al)GaAs QW lasers, but InGaAs-AlGaAs strained QW lasers with optimized facet passivation predominantly fail by catastrophic optical bulk damage (COBD). Since COBD is relatively a new failure type, it requires physics of failure investigation to understand its root causes and then develop COBD-free lasers for high reliability applications including potential satellite systems. We recently proposed a model for degradation mechanism responsible the COBD process and this paper further investigates the root causes of COBD in the lasers using various failure mode analysis techniques. We investigated reliability and degradation mechanism in MOCVD-grown broad-area InGaAs-AlGaAs strained QW single emitters. During entire accelerated life-tests of the lasers we studied, time resolved electroluminescence (TR-EL) techniques were employed to observe formation of a hot spot and subsequent formation and progression of dark spots and dark lines through windowed n-contacts.

Metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy growth of InGaP using tertiarybutylphosphine and its application to selective regrowth of current blocking layers of laser diodes

The transient thermal characteristics related to catastrophic optical damage (COD) in high power AlGaAs/GaAs laser diodes (LDs) are studied experimentally by means of thermal infrared imaging, laser scanning confocal microscopy, and transient thermal technique. The transient thermal technique is based on the diode forward voltage method in which the structure function theory is applied to determine the component thermal resistance and temperature rise of the LDs. We have recorded the dynamics of COD process using thermal infrared camera. Two melting spots are observed in the output facet after COD which location exactly matches the position of the thermal flash from the thermal imaging and even the temperature of COD seed has a sudden increase of 32 K when the COD event occurs. Furthermore, we find that the thermal resistance from chip to In solder increases remarkably after COD, meanwhile the thermal resistance of solder and package does not change apparently. The results are attributed to the heat power dissipation increase originating from the enhancement of nonradiative recombination after COD under constant input electrical power.

Gallium nitride (GaN) based vertical high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) is very crucial for high power applications. Combination of advantageous material properties of GaN for high speed applications and novel vertical structure makes this device very beneficial for high power application. To improve the device performance especially in high drain bias condition, a novel GaN based vertical HEMT with silicon dioxide $$(\hbox {SiO}_{2})$$(SiO2) current blocking layer (CBL) was reported recently. In this paper, effects of the thickness of CBL layer and the aperture length on the electrical and breakdown characteristics of GaN vertical HEMTs with $$\hbox {SiO}_{2}$$SiO2 CBL are simulated by using two-dimensional quantum-mechanically corrected device simulation. Intensive numerical study on the device enables us to optimize and conclude that devices with $$0.5\hbox {-}\upmu \hbox {m}$$0.5-μm-thick $$\hbox {SiO}_{2}$$SiO2 layer and $$1\hbox {-}\upmu \hbox {m}$$1-μm-long aperture will be beneficial considerations to improve the device performance. Notably, using the multiple apertures can effectively reduce the on-state conducting resistance of the device. On increasing the number of apertures, the drain current is increased but the breakdown voltage is decreased. Therefore, device with four apertures is taken as an optimized result. The maximum drain current of 84 mA at $$\hbox {V}_\mathrm{G}= 1\,\hbox {V}$$VG=1V and $$\hbox {V}_\mathrm{D}= 30\,\hbox {V}$$VD=30V, and the breakdown voltage of 480 V have been achieved for the optimized device.

The catastrophic optical damage (COD) of 450-nm emitting InGaN/GaN diode lasers is investigated with special attention to the kinetics of the process. For this purpose, the COD is triggered artificially by applying individual current pulses. This makes it possible to achieve a sub-µs time resolution for processes monitored by cameras. COD appears as a process that involves decomposition of quantum well and waveguide materials. We observe the ejection of hot material from the front facets of the laser. This can be seen in two different wavelength ranges, visible/near infrared and mid infrared. The main contributions identified are both thermal radiation and 450-nm laser light scattered by the emitted material. Defect growth during COD is energized by the optical mode. Therefore, the defect pattern resembles its shape. Ultimately, the loss of material leads to the formation of an empty channel along the laser axis. COD in GaAs and GaN-based devices follows similar general scenarios. After ignition of the process, the defect propagation during the process is fed by laser energy. We observe defect propagation velocities of up to ~30 m/s for GaAs-based devices and 110 m/s for GaN-based devices. The damage patterns of GaN and GaAs-based devices are completely different. For GaN-based devices, the front facets show holes. Behind them in the interior, we find an empty channel at the position of the optical mode surrounded by intact material. In contrast, earlier studies on GaAs-based devices that were degraded under almost identical conditions resulted in molten, phase separated and both recrystallized and amorphous materials with well-defined melting fronts.

Summary form only given. Today's rising power requirement for semiconductor lasers has created much interest in the research of high power single lateral mode lasers. Single lateral mode lasers are generally narrow in width in order to cut off propagation of higher order modes. Several problems arise from the narrow geometry such as catastrophic optical mirror damage (COMD), a large diffraction angle, and limited power due to the small gain volume. Recently, flared waveguides have been studied for increased gain volume and increased spot size on the front facet. The larger gain volume increases the peak output power of the diode. The increased spot size will raise the COMD power level by lowering the power density at the facet. The increased spot size will also decrease the diffraction angle. A problem with flaring the waveguide is that as the waveguide increases in width, it can support propagation of higher order modes. Our design addresses this by utilizing selective area epitaxy (SAE) to create a ridge that gets thinner as its width increases. The result is a flared ridge that is tapered along the length of the laser.

Remarkable progress made in performance characteristics and reliability of high-speed (> 10 GHz) 850-nm multi-mode (MM) oxide-confined vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSELs) during the last decade has led them to find applications in space satellite systems. The main advantage of deploying high-speed VCSELs in space satellites over directly modulated 850-nm edge emitting lasers is the absence of COMD (catastrophic optical mirror damage). In recent years, leading VCSEL manufacturers introduced higher speed (~ 20 GHz or 25 Gbps) VCSELs with encouraging characteristics. However, little has been reported on reliability and failure modes of these state-of-the-art VCSELs although it is crucial to understand failure modes and degradation mechanisms in these VCSELs through physics of failure investigation and subsequently develop VCSELs that exceed lifetime requirements for space satellite systems. For the present study, we performed short-term and long-term accelerated life-tests on 25 Gbps oxide-confined MM VCSELs to study reliability of these devices. Our goal is to extract credible reliability model parameters (thermal activation energy and current exponent factor) from these life-tests to determine suitability of these lasers for future space satellite systems. We also performed failure mode analysis on VCSELs at different stages of degradation using various techniques. We employed nondestructive techniques including optical beam induced current (OBIC) and electron beam induced current (EBIC) techniques as well as destructive techniques including focused ion beam (FIB) and high-resolution TEM techniques. Our detailed reliability and failure mode analysis results are reported along with our understanding on the physical origin of degradation in high-speed VCSELs with strained InGaAs quantum wells.

Continuous-wave output powers of 9.2 W at a constant heatsink temperature of 10°C and 12.2 W at a stabilized temperature of the active region have been obtained on an InGaAs/AlGaAs laser with a 0.4-µm-thick waveguide, operating at 1.03 µm. Record-breaking output mirror power densities of, respectively, 29.9 and 40 MW/cm2 have been achieved without catastrophic optical mirror damage in the two temperature-stabilization regimes. A maximum power conversion efficiency of 66% has been achieved in a laser with a cavity length of 2 mm.

Taking advantage of robust facet passivation, we unveil a laser “fossil” buried within a broad area laser diode (LD) cavity when the LD was damaged by applying a high current. For the first time, novel physical phenomena have been observed at these dramatically elevated energy densities within the nanoscale LD waveguide. The observation of the laser “fossil” is interpreted with different mechanisms, including: the origination of bulk catastrophic optical damage (COD) due to locally high energy densities, heliotropic COD growth, solid-liquid-gas phase transformations, strong longitudinal phonon cooling effect on the molten COD wave front, and the formation of patterns due to laser lateral modes. For the first time the COD propagation is analyzed temporally by an acoustic phonon bouncing model and the COD velocity is extrapolated to be exponentially decreasing from more than 800 μm/μs to a few μm/μs within a 20 μs time period as the energy density dissipates.