The quality of the die bonding is critical to the operation and reliability of the laser diodes since it can affect the
electrical, thermal, and optical properties of the device. We investigated the effect of mounting induced strain and
defects on the performance of high power laser. In this paper measurements of the temperature distribution, the
spontaneous emission spectrum and the electroluminescence along the cavity of quantum well lasers are presented. The
electro-optical parameters of the high output power laser diodes, such as emission wavelength, output power, threshold
current, slope efficiency, and operating lifetime are presented too. In the experiment, high power diode lasers emitting in
808 nm and 880 nm- range are investigated. We have observed that defect lines tend to create in areas where temperature
gradients were observed in thermovision measurements.
The laser diodes (LD) have numerous applications and promise to become key elements for next generation laser
technologies. LD are usually operated under conditions of heavy thermal load. As a result, the devices are affected by
aging processes leading to changes of the operation parameters, degradation and, eventually, complete failure.
Degradation of high power semiconductor lasers remains a serious problem for practical application of these devices. We
investigated the effect of mounting induced strain and defects on the performance of high power laser. In this paper
measurements of the temperature distribution and the electroluminescence along the cavity of InGaAs quantum well
lasers before and after accelerated aging processes are presented. The electro-optical parameters of the high output power
laser diodes, such as emission wavelength, output power, threshold current, slope efficiency, and operating lifetime are
presented too.
Ceramic materials are interesting alternative to single crystals for various optoelectronic applications including high-power
lasers and phosphors. Main advantages of ceramics compared to their single crystal counterparts are lower costs
of production, ability to incorporate higher dopant concentrations and possibility to manufacture larger elements. In the
present work, the spectroscopic properties of ceramics obtained by two different methods are compared. First method
relies on solid-state reaction of nanometric oxide powders, i.e. Al2O3, Y2O3 and Nd2O3. The oxides with addition of
tetraethyl orthosilicate were sintered under vacuum and anealled. Second method is the synthesis of neodymium-doped
aluminium garnet (Nd:YAG) nanocrystalline powders prepared by coprecipitation technique. The powders were calcined
and vacuum-sintered in optimized process conditions. For all ceramic samples fluoresce and decay data is presented.
Presented results indicate that the ceramic samples obtained by reactive sintering method have superior spectroscopic
properties compared to the samples synthesized from Nd:YAG nanocrystalline powders. The optimization of
manufacturing process allowed to demonstrate ceramics having the properties comparable to single crystal counterparts.
Optical quality and luminescent properties make the ceramics manufactured at the Institute of Electronic Materials
Technology an interesting candidate for laser applications.
High brightness, high power, semiconductor lasers have many potential applications such as: free space communications,
printing, material processing, pumping etc [1]. Such applications require lasers, which are characterized by reliability
and long lifetime.
Catastrophic optical mirror damage (COMD) process is one of the major mechanisms, which drastically limits laser
lifetime and emitted optical power [2]. Mirror degradation and eventually destruction of lasers is caused by facet heating
due to nonradiative surface recombination of carriers. Facet heating reduces the band gap energy, consequently
increasing the absorption coefficient at the facet. The absorbed light and photo-induced electron-hole pair are increased
by the increase in the absorption coefficient. Both effects lead to further nonradiative recombination of carriers which
induces heating and so on, up to degradation of mirror or even destruction of laser. We see that this effect is very
undesirable and knowledge of the temperature dissipation on the surface is very important for improving
semiconductor lasers design. In this work we present the analysis of temperature distribution at the front facet of the
broad area GaAsP/AlGaAs lasers by means of micro-Thermoreflectance (μTR) Spectroscopy.
Several methods proved to be useful in determining the temperature of the laser surface. These are micro-probe band-to-band
photoluminescence, thermoreflectance spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy [2, 3, 4, 5]. We have used μTR
because it is contactless, non-destructive technique which enables us to obtain temperature distribution in real time.
The application of multi-spectral microthermography to the monitoring of aging processes in diode lasers is reported.
We have found that an intensity of the luminescence in near IR (1.5 -2 micron range) increases with the operational
time, which tentatively is correlated with increased concentration of point defects. This effect is monitored with a
specially configured thermographic camera. The set-up provides spatially resolved information about the luminescence
that originates from radiative recombination at defect centers as well as the pure thermal emission.
In order to elucidate the role of point defects in the aging process of diode laser complementary spectroscopic
measurements are performed. Photocurrent spectroscopy is used to examine the absorption properties of laser structure
for fresh as well for aged devices. The results of low-current I-V characterization are presented. A correlation between
measurement results obtained using different methods is found, discussed and interpreted in detail.
KEYWORDS: Semiconductor lasers, Heterojunctions, Near field optics, Near field, Waveguides, High power lasers, Quantum wells, Silicon, Spectroscopy, Absorption
An analysis of the mode structure of high-power double-barrier separate confinement DB SCH diode lasers is presented. The devices are characterized by very low vertical beam divergence (13 - 22°, depending on the design version). Modelling of the fundamental mode distribution for three different design versions of DB SCH diode lasers is discussed and the results are compared to a macroscopic characterization of the devices (far-field directional characteristics and photocurrent spectra). Microscopic measurements of the near field distribution of these diode lasers with subwavelength spatial resolution are performed by employing a Near-field Photocurrent (NPC) technique. The mode structure of diode lasers is directly visualized giving indications about the interplay between the heterostructure design and the emission characteristics.
The implementation of more complex diode laser concepts also increases the demands for improved measurement technology and the need for new analytical tools. In particular concerning the thermal properties of novel high-power devices, there are several established experimental methods. Micro-Raman spectroscopy as well as reflectance techniques, such as photo- and thermo-reflectance measurements, provide information on facet temperatures, whereas emission wavelength shifts enable for the determination of averaged temperatures along the laser axis. Here we report on the successful application of a complementary technique, namely imaging thermography in the 1.5-5 μm wavelength range using a thermocamera, to diode laser analysis. The use of this known technique for the purpose of device analysis became possible due to the enormous technical progress achieved in the field of infrared imaging. We investigate high-power diode lasers and laser arrays by inspecting their front facets. We find raw data to be frequently contaminated by thermal radiation traveling through the substrate, which is transparent for infrared light. Subtraction of this contribution and re-calibration allows for the determination of realistic temperature profiles along laser structures, however, without spatially resolving the facet heating at the surface of the laser waveguide. Furthermore, we show how hot spots at the front facet can be pinpointed. Thus our approach also paves the way for an advanced methodology of device screening.
We demonstrate the applicability of imaging thermography for investigations of mechanisms associated with gradual degradation in diode lasers. The introduction of two spectral channels provides the means for separate observation of deep level luminescence and thermal radiation emitted according to Planck's law. In the near IR region we found the signal detected by the camera to be mainly affected by mid-gap deep-level luminescence. An intensity increase of the luminescence signal for an aged diode laser compared to an unaged device is noticed. It can be explained by an increase of deep level defect concentration during the aging. In the mid IR, we mainly encounter thermal radiation, which can be used for the analysis of the thermal properties of devices. In present work the thermal behavior of the device subjected to an aging of 3000 hours is analyzed. A significant increase of device temperature is noticed.
We report on novel evaluation methodology of high-power diode lasers that potentially will increase the reliability level of these devices. The study is carried out for wide-stripe, 808 nm diode lasers with low fast-axis beam divergence that base on a double-barrier single quantum well separate confinement heterostructure. The diodes are assembled in standard packages with base diameter &slasho; = 9 mm. Degradation of diode lasers is a result of the interaction between internal and external factors. Thus, insight into degradation mechanisms is only possible with a complex characterization of the devices. In our analysis we involved standard measurements such as current-voltage, light-current characterizations, as well as advanced methods such as high-resolution thermography. The latter one allows for investigations of thermal properties of diode lasers including fast temperature profiling and defect recognition. We discuss the usefulness of above techniques for screening purposes. Finally we present results of reliability tests of the diode lasers. A correlation between initial tests and lifetest results is shown.
KEYWORDS: Semiconductor lasers, Thermography, Temperature metrology, Heatsinks, Spatial resolution, High power lasers, Micro raman spectroscopy, Data modeling, Finite element methods, Thermal modeling
Thermal properties of 808 nm emitting high-power diode lasers are investigated by means of micro-thermography. A thermo-camera equipped with a 384x288 pixel HgCdTe-detector (cut off wavelength at 5.5 micron) and IR-micro-objective is used, which allows for thermal imaging with a spatial resolution of 5 μm. A novel methodological approach for data re-calibration for absolute temperature measurements is proposed. We present steady-state thermal distributions from broad-area devices. The remarkable agreement of this data with the results of modeling work has been reached. Cross-calibration of the micro-thermographic results is obtained by complementary micro-Raman data that give information about facet temperatures with a spatial resolution of about 1 micron. Transient thermal properties are monitored with a temporal resolution of 1.4 ms. Such thermal transients illustrate the heat flow trough the device after turning on the operation current. Special experiments are done in order to detect and localize hot spots at the facet and within the devices. Moreover, we show that the analysis of thermal images can be used as a recognition method of defects hidden inside the cavity, even if they are not detectable by visual inspection. These activities are paving the way towards a novel screening methodology.
KEYWORDS: Semiconductor lasers, High power lasers, Diodes, Waveguides, Heterojunctions, Near field optics, CCD cameras, Optical filters, Cameras, Laser systems engineering
A low-cost system for quick measurements of laser diodes far-field characteristics is demonstrated. The measurement results of various types of laser diodes are presented. The usefulness of the system for high-power laser diode testing is proven.
To meet the requirements for the narrow emission line of ht laser diode pumping system exactly at 808 nm wavelength, an optimization of the laser (AlGa)As heterostructure because of the composition and thickness of the constituent layers is necessary. In the paper the design principles, the characteristics of the manufactured laser diodes based on this design and intrinsic limitations of the possibility of 'tuning' the lasers to desired wavelength in the MOVPE growth process are presented.
The system of remote control for the fiber optic grating interferometer is presented. The principle of operation is based on the opto-electronic method of introducing the carrier frequency into interferograms. A full automation of the measurement process has been achieved by using the system of the smart recognition of carrier frequency with a feedback into the laser diode driver. Due to the reduction of the interferometer elements, the possibility to measure in-plane displacement maps in locations with difficult access is introduced.
The technology progress in mechanics, material science and manufacturing which has been observed over the past decades, has created a great demand for reliable, fast and fully automated inspection methods. Among the optical methods, a very useful tool for in-plane displacement measurement is the grating interferometry [1]. The features of this method are: high sensitivity, versatility and high accuracy of in-plane displacement determination. In order to meet requirements concerning the miniaturisation of the measurement system, the new fibre optic version of the grating interferometer [2] has been proposed. This realisation enables measurement in difficult to access locations which significantly increased the versatility of the system. The novelty of the system is utilisation of laser diode as a light source. Using the spectral properties of the laser diode, especially the possibility of controlled wavelength varying allowed to create a smart fringe design system, which is used for automatic interferogram analysis.
The spectral behaviour of a laser diode during its modulation was investigated in order to find the correlation between
the spectral properties of a light source and the appearance of an interferogram resulting from its radiation. The expected fringe
visibility curves for a laser diode working in a stable as well as in "mode hopping" regions are given. The experimentally
obtained interference patterns which visualise such effects as wavelength shift and coherence collapse are also presented.
A new fiber implementation of a grating interferometer for studying in- plane displacements of an object under load is presented. Applications of a fiber optic grating interferometers include laboratory and out of the laboratory tests of materials, construction elements and solving various mechanical problems, especially when a small sensor size is required. The system was tested for a specimen loaded in a four point bending configuration and phase methods for computer aided fringe analysis were implemented.
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.