Comparison of two kinds of active layers for high-power narrow-stripe distributed feedback laser diodes

Usually GaAs/AlGaAs is utilized as an active layer material in laser diodes operating in the spectral range of 800 850 nm. In this work, in addition to a traditional unstrained GaAs/AlGaAs distributed feedback (DFB) laser diode, a compressively strained InGaAlAs/AlGaAs DFB laser diode is numerically investigated in characteristic. The simulation results show that the compressively strained DFB laser diode has a lower transparency carrier density, higher gain, lower Auger recombination rate, and higher stimulated recombination rate, which lead to better a device performance, than the traditional unstrained GaAs/AlGaAs DFB laser diode.

Characterization of parasitics in TO-packaged high-speed laser modules

An elaborate analysis of the parasitic network of high-speed through-hole packaging (TO)-type laser modules is presented using a small-signal equivalent circuit model. The intrinsic laser diode is obtained using the optical modulation technique, and is embedded into the model as a separate component. Three step-by-step measurements are made for determining the packaging parasitic network, including the test fixture, TO header, submount, bonding wire, and parasitics of the laser chip. A good agreement between simulated and measured results confirms the validation and accuracy of the characterization procedures. Furthermore, several key parasitic elements are found based on the simulation of the high-frequency responses of the packaged devices. It is expected that the 3-dB bandwidth of 12 GHz or more of the low-cost TO packaged laser module may be achieved using the proposed optimization method.

Simultaneous Q switching and mode locking with narrow envelope width in a microchip Nd : YVO4 laser with a composite semiconductor absorber

By using a composite semiconductor absorber and an output coupler, we demonstrated a Q-switched and mode-locked diode-pumped microchip Nd:YVO4 laser. With a 350-mu m-thick crystal, the width of the Q-switched envelope was as short as 12 ns; the repetition rate of the mode-locked pulses inside the Q-switched pulse was more than 10 GHz. The average output power was 335 mW at a maximum pump power of 1.6 W. Q-switched envelope widths of 21 and 31 ns were also achieved with crystals 0.7 and 1.0 mm thick, respectively.

GaN-based violet laser diodes grown on free-standing GaN substrate

National Natural Science Foundation of China 60506001 60776047 60476021 60576003 60836003；National Basic Research Programme of China 2007CB936700

Characteristics of InGaN multiple quantum well blue-violet laser diodes

Studies on InGaN multiple quantum well blue-violet laser diodes have been reported. Laser structures with long-period multiple quantum wells were grown by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition. Triple-axis X-ray diffraction (TAXRD) measurements show that the multiple quantum wells were high quality. Ridge waveguide laser diodes were fabricated with cleaved facet mirrors. The laser diodes lase at room temperature under a pulsed current. A threshold current density of 3.3 kA/cm(2) and a characteristic temperature To of 145 K were observed for the laser diode.

Influence of GaAsP insertion layers on performance of InGaAsP/InGaP/AlGaAs quantum-well laser

We report on the use of very thin GaAsP insertion layers to improve the performance of an InGaAsP/InGaP/AlGaAs single quantum-well laser structure grown by metal organic chemical vapour deposition. Compared to the non-insertion structure, the full width at half maximum of photoluminescence spectrum of the insertion structure measured at room temperature is decreased from 47 to 38 nm indicating sharper interfaces. X-ray diffraction shows that the GaAsP insertion layers between AlGaAs and InGaP compensates for the compressive strain to improve the total interface. The laser performance of the insertion structure is significantly improved as compared with the counterpart without the insertion layers. The threshold current is decreased from 560 to 450mA while the slope efficiency is increased from 0.61 to 0.7W/A and the output power is increased from 370 to 940mW. The slope efficiency improved is very high for the devices without coated facets. The improved laser performance is attributed to the suppression of indium carry-over due to the use of the GaAsP insertion layers.

High-repetition rate Q-switched Nd : YVO4 laser with a composite semiconductor absorber

A diode-pumped Nd:YVO4 laser passively Q switched by a semiconductor absorber is demonstrated. The Q-switched operation of the laser has an average output power of 135 mW with a 1.6 W incident pump power. The minimum pulse width is measured to be about 8.3 ns with a repetition rate of 2 MHz. To our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of a solid-state laser passively Q-switched by such a composite semiconductor absorber. (c) 2006 Optical Society of America.

End-pumped continuous-wave passively modelocked Nd : YVO4 laser with low pump power

A simple cw mode-locked solid-state laser, which is end-pumped by a low-power laser diode, was demonstrated by optimizing the laser-mode size inside the gain medium. The optimum ratio between mode and pump spot sizes inside the laser crystal was estimated for a cw mode-locked laser, taking into account the input pump power. Calculation and experiment have shown that the optimum ratio was about 3 when the pump power is 2 W, which is different from the value regularly used in passively mode-locked solid-state lasers. This conclusion is also helpful in increasing the efficiency of high-power ultrashort lasers. (C) 2006 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers.

MQW electroabsorption modulator-integrated DFB laser modules for high-speed transmission

Details of the design, fabrication and testing of a strained InGaAsP/InGaAsP multiple quantum well (MQW) electroabsorption modulator (EAM) monolithically integrated with a DFB laser by ultra-low-pressure selective area growth (SAG) are presented. The method greatly simplifies the integration process. A study of the controllability of band-gap energy by SAG has been performed. After being completely packaged in a seven-pin butterfly compact module, the device successfully performs 10 Gb s(-1) nonreturn to zero (NRZ) operation on uncompensated transmission span >53 km in a standard fibre with a 8.7 dB dynamic extinction ratio. A receiver sensitivity of -18.9 dBm at a bit error rate (BER) of 10(-10) is confirmed. 10 GHz short pulse trains with 15.3 ps pulsewidth have also been generated.

High-power AlGaInP laser diodes with current-injection-free region near the laser facet

A high-power AlGaInP laser diode with current-injection-free region near the facet is successfully fabricated by metaorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) using the (100) direction n-GaAs substrates with a misorientation of 15 deg toward the (011) direction. The maximum continuous wave output power is about 90 mW for the traditional structure. In comparison, the maximum output power is enhanced by about 67%, and achieves 150 mW for LDs with current-infection-free regions. The fundamental transverse-mode operation is obtained up to 70 mW. Output characteristics at high temperatures are also improved greatly for an LD with a current-injection-free region, and the highest operation temperature is 70 C at 50 mW without kink. The threshold current is about 33 mA, the operation current and the slope efficiency at 100 mW are 120 mA and 0.9 mW/mA, respectively. The lasing wavelength is 658.4 nm at room-temperature 50 mW. (c) 2006 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers.

1.55-mu m Ridge DFB laser and electroabsorption modulator integrated with buried-ridge-stripe dual-waveguide spot-size converter output

A 1.55-mu m ridge distributed feedback laser and electroabsorption modulator monolithically integrated with a buried-ridge-stripe dual-waveguide spot-size converter (SSC) at the output port for low-loss coupling to a cleaved single-mode optical fiber was fabricated by means of selective area growth, quantum-well intermixing, and dual-core technologies. These devices exhibit threshold current of 28 mA, 3-dB modulation bandwidth of 12.0 GHz, modulator extinction ratios of 25.0-dB dc. The output beam divergence angles of the SSC in the horizontal and vertical directions are as small as 8.0 degrees x 12.6 degrees, respectively, resulting in 3.2-dB coupling loss with a cleaved single-mode optical fiber.

Comparison between two kinds of semiconductor absorbers for mode-locking in Nd : YVO4 laser

We have demonstrated passive mode-locking in a diode-end-pumped Nd:YVO4 laser using two kinds of semiconductor absorbers whose relaxation region comes from In0.25Ga0.75As grown at low temperature (LT) and GaAs/air interface respectively Mode-locking, using absorbers of the GaAs/air interface relaxation region, has the characteristics of less Q-switching tendency and higher average output power than that using absorbers of LT In0.25Ga0.75As relaxation region, but is not as stable as the latter.

Photovoltage and luminescence study of stacked InAs/GaAs self-organized quantum dots

The ground and excited state excitonic transitions of stacked InAs self-organized quantum dots (QDs) in a laser diode structure are studied. The interband absorption transitions of QDs are investigated by non-destructive PV spectra, indicating that the strongest absorption is related to the excited states with a high density and coincides with the photon energy of lasing emission. The temperature and excitation (electric injection) intensity dependences of photoluminescence and electroluminescence indicate the influence of state filling effect on the luminescence of threefold stacked QDs. The results indicate that different coupling channels exist between electronic states in both vertical and lateral directions.

Scattering-parameter measurements of laser diodes

An accurate and simple technique for measuring the input reflection coefficient and the frequency response of semiconductor laser diode chips is proposed and demonstrated. All the packaging parasitics could be obtained accurately using a calibrated probe, and the impedance of the intrinsic diode chip is deduced from the directly measured reflection coefficient. The directly measured impedance of a laser diode is affected strongly by the short bond wire. In the frequency response (S(2)1) measurements of semiconductor laser diode chips, the test fixture consists of a microwave probe, a submount, and a bond wire. The S-parameters of the probe could be determined using the short-open-match (SOM) method. Both the attenuation and the reflection of the test fixture have a strong influence on the directly measured frequency response, and in our proposed technique, the effect of test fixture is completely removed.

Effect of rapid thermal annealing on electron emission and DX centers in strained InGaAs/GaAs single quantum well laser diodes

Thermal processing of strained In0.2Ga0.8As/GaAs graded-index separate confinement heterostructure single quantum well laser diodes grown by molecular beam epitaxy is investigated. It is found that rapid thermal annealing can improve the 77K photoluminescence efficiency and electron emission from the active layer, due to the removal of nonradiative centers from the InGaAs/GaAs interface. Because of the interdiffusion of Al and Ga atoms, rapid thermal annealing increases simultaneously the density of DX centers in the AlGaAs graded layer. The current stressing experiments of postgrowth and annealed laser diodes are indicative of a corresponding increase in the concentration of DX centers, suggesting that DX centers may be responsible for the degradation of laser diode performance.