Catastrophic optical damage of high power InGaAs/AlGaAs laser diodes

Producción CientíficaThe defects generated by the catastrophic optical degradation (COD) of high power laser diodes have been examined using cathodoluminescence (CL). Discontinuous dark lines that correspond to different levels of damage have been observed along the ridge. Finite element methods have been applied to solve a physical model for the degradation of the diodes that explicitly considers the thermal and mechanical properties of the laser structure. According to this model, the COD is triggered by a local temperature enhancement that gives rise to thermal stresses leading to the generation of dislocations. Damage is initially localized in the QW, and when it propagates to the waveguide layers the laser ends its life.Junta de Castilla y León (programa de apoyo a proyectos de investigación – Ref. VA302U13

Nanoscale effects on the thermal and mechanical properties of AlGaAs/GaAs quantum well laser diodes: influence on the catastrophic optical damage

Producción CientíficaIn this work we study the catastrophic optical damage (COD) of graded-index separate confinement heterostructure quantum well (QW) laser diodes based on AlGaAs/GaAs. The emphasis is placed on the impact that the nanoscale physical properties have on the operation and degradation of the active layers of these devices. When these laser diodes run in continuous-wave mode with high internal optical power densities, the QW and guide layers can experiment very intense local heating phenomena that lead to device failure. A thermomechanical model has been set up to study the mechanism of degradation. This model has been solved by applying finite element methods. A variety of physical factors related to the materials properties, which play a paramount role in the laser degradation process, have been considered. Among these, the reduced thicknesses of the QW and the guides lead to thermal conductivities smaller than the bulk figures, which are further reduced as extended defects develop in these layers. This results in a progressively deteriorating thermal management in the device. To the best of our knowledge, this model for laser diodes is the first one to have taken into account low scale mechanical effects that result in enhanced strengths in the structural layers. Moreover, the consequences of these conflicting size-dependent properties on the thermo-mechanical behaviour on the route to COD are examined. Subsequently, this approach opens the possibility of taking advantage of these properties in order to design robust diode lasers (or other types of power devices) in a controlled manner.Junta de Castilla y León (programa de apoyo a proyectos de investigación – Ref. Project VA293U13 and VA081U16 (003)Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad (Proyect ENE2014-56069-C4-4-R