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Catastrophic optical mirror damage in diode lasers monitored during single-pulse operation
M. Ziegler1, J.W. Tomm1, D. Reeber1, T. Elsaesser1, U. Zeimer2, H.E. Larsen3, P.M. Petersen3, and P.E. Andersen3
1 Max-Born-Institut, Max-Born-Str. 2 A, 12489 Berlin, Germany
2 Ferdinand-Braun-Institut für Höchstfrequenztechnik, Gustav-Kirchhoff-Straße 4, D-12489 Berlin, Germany
3 Department of Photonics Engineering, DTU Fotonik, Technical University of Denmark, Risø campus Building 128, P.O. Box 49, 4000 Roskilde, Denmark
Published in:
Appl. Phys. Lett., vol. 94, no. 191101 (2009).
© Copyright 2009 American Institute of Physics. This article may be downloaded for personal use only. Any other use requires prior permission of the author and the American Institute of Physics.

Abstract:
Catastrophic optical mirror damage (COMD) is analyzed for 808 nm emitting diode lasers in
single-pulse operation in order to separate facet degradation from subsequent degradation processes.
During each pulse, nearfield and thermal images are monitored. A temporal resolution better than
7 µs is achieved. The thermal runaway process is unambiguously related to the occurrence of a
"thermal flash". A one-by-one correlation between nearfield, thermal flash, thermal runaway, and
structural damage is observed. The single-pulse excitation technique allows for controlling the
propagation of the structural damage into the cavity. We propose this technique for the analysis of
early stages of COMD.
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