B. Sumpf, J. Fricke, P. Ressel, M. Zorn, G. Erbert, G. Tränkle

Published in:

Proc. SPIE, vol. 8277, no. 82771I (2012).

Abstract:

Compared to longer wavelength devices, the development of reliable red-emitting diode lasers is more challenging due to the applicable semiconductors and the limited stability of the laser facets. Reliable operation over 1,000 h is sufficient for the pumping of fs-Cr:LiSAF lasers or in photodynamic therapy, but laser display technology requires material with the potential to operate failure free over more than 10,000 h.
Reliability tests for 650 nm broad area (BA) lasers based on a GaInP single quantum well embedded in AlGaInP waveguide layers will be presented. 100 µm stripe width BA lasers with a length of 1.5 mm were fabricated as low mesa structures. The facets were optically coated including a facet passivation procedure. Mounted on diamond heat spreader and standard C-mounts at 15°C the devices had threshold currents of 550 mA, slope efficiencies of 1.2 W/A, and conversion efficiencies up to 0.33.
Aging tests of four BA lasers were performed at output powers of 1.1 W and 1.2 W over a total test time of 20,000 h at a heat sink temperature of 15°C. No failure occurred during the lifetime test. The degradation rates for all devices were smaller than 3×10^-6 h^-1. A lifetime of 100,000 h at an operational power of 1.2 W can be estimated. These data proof that the material is well suited for the fabrication of high-brightness diode lasers for laser display technology.

Keywords:

High-power diode lasers, broad area lasers, red emitting laser, reliability.

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