Novel coupled multi-active region high power semiconductor lasers cascaded via tunnel junction

A novel semiconductor laser structure is put forward to resolve the major difficulties of high power laser diodes. In this structure, several active regions are cascaded by tunnel junctions to form a large optical cavity and to achieve super high efficiency. This structure can solve the problems of catastrophic optical damage of facet, thermal damage and poor light beam quality effectively. Low-pressure metalorganic chemical vapor deposition method is adopted to grow the novel semiconductor laser structures, which are composed of Si:GaAs/C:GaAs tunnel junctions, GaAs/InGaAs strain quantum well active regions. External differential quantum efficiency as high as 2.2 and light power output of 2.5 W per facet (under 2A drive current) are achieved from an uncoated novel laser device with three active regions.

Design consideration and performance of high-power and high-brightness InGaAs-InGaAsP-AlGaAs quantum-well diode lasers (lambda=0.98 mu m)

In this paper, we conduct a theoretical analysis of the design, fabrication, and performance measurement of high-power and high-brightness strained quantum-well lasers emitting at 0.98 mum, The material system of interest consists of an Al-free InGaAs-InGaAsP active region and AlGaAs cladding layers. Some key parameters of the laser structure are theoretically analyzed, and their effects on the laser performance are discussed. The laser material is grown by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition and demonstrates high quality with low-threshold current density, high internal quantum efficiency, and extremely low internal loss. High-performance broad-area multimode and ridge-waveguide single-mode laser devices are fabricated. For 100-mum-wide stripe lasers having a cavity length of 800 mum, a high slope efficiency of 1.08 W-A, a low vertical beam divergence of 34 degrees, a high output power of over 4.45 W, and a very high characteristic temperature coefficient of 250 K were achieved. Lifetime tests performed at 1.2-1.3 W (12-13 mW/mum) demonstrates reliable performance. For 4-mum-wide ridge waveguide single-mode laser devices, a maximum output power of 394 mW and fundamental mode power up to 200 mW with slope efficiency of 0.91 mW/mum are obtained.

Room temperature (34 degrees C) operation of strain-compensated quantum cascade lasers

A short wavelength (lambda similar or equal to 3.5 mu m) strain-compensated InxGa(1-x)As/InyAl(1-y)As quantum cascade laser is reported. Quasi-continuous wave operation of this device at 34 degrees C with an output power of 11.4mW persisted for more than 30 minutes without obvious degradation. A very low threshold current density of 1.2KA/cm(2) at this temperature was observed.

Investigation on anisotropy of vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers

We have studied the spontaneous emission of polarized excitons in the GaInP/AlGaInP vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers from 50 K to room temperature. It is observed that the spontaneous emission peak enters and leaves the resonant regime. At the resonant regime, the emission intensities of the perpendicularly and horizontally polarized excitons are enhanced and their proportions are different from that in nonresonant regime. These experimental results are explained by the dressed exciton theory of the semiconductor microcavity device. Based on this theory, the intensity enhancement and the polarization dependence are understood as cooperative emission and the microcavity anisotropy. (C) 2000 American Institute of Physics. [S0021-8979(00)05315-9].

High power 980 nm Al-free strained quantum-well lasers for erbium-doped fiber amplifiers

In this paper, we reported on the fabrication of 980 nm InGaAs/InGaAsP strained quantum-well (QW) lasers with broad waveguide. The laser structure was grown by low-pressure metalorganic chemical vapor deposition on a n(+)- GaAs substrate. For 3 mu m stripe ridge waveguide lasers, the threshold current is 30 mA and the maximum output power and the output power operating in fundamental mode are 350 mW and 200 mW, respectively. The output power from the single mode fiber is up to 100 mW, the coupling efficiency is 50%. We also fabricated 100 mu m broad stripe coated lasers with cavity length of 800 mu m, a threshold current density of 170 A/cm(2), a high slope efficiency of 1.03 W/A and a far-field pattern of 40 x 6 degrees are obtained. The maximum output power of 3.5 W is also obtained for 100 mu m wide coated lasers. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

High-speed and high-power 1.3 mu m InGaAsP/InP selective proton-bombarded buried crescent lasers with optical field attenuation regions

High-speed and high-power InGaAsP/lnP selective proton-bombarded buried crescent (SPB-BC) lasers with optical field attenuation regions were reported. The defect of proton bombardment can not affect the lifetime of the SPB-BC laser because the optical field attenuation region obstructs the growth and propagation of defects. A CW light output over 115 mW was achieved at room temperature using a 500 mu m long cavity SPB-BC laser. The 3 dB bandwidth was 8.5 GHz, and the lifetime was about 8.5 x 10(5) h. The capacitance of four kinds of current blocking structures was first measured in our experiment, and the results shown that the capacitance of proton-bombarded pnpn structure was not only less than that of pnpn current blocking structure, but also less than that of semi-insulating Fe-InP structure.

High-performance 980-nm quantum-well lasers using a hybrid material system of an Al-free InGaAs-InGaAsP active region and AlGaAs cladding layers grown by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition

We report on the material growth and fabrication of high-performance 980-nm strained quantum-well lasers employing a hybrid material system consisting of an Al-free InGaAs-InGaAsP active region and AlGaAs cladding layers. The use of AlGaAs cladding instead of InGaP provides potential advantages in flexibility of laser design, simple epitaxial growth, and improvement of surface morphology and laser performance. The as-grown InGaAs-InGaAsP(1.6 eV)-AlGaAs(1.95 eV) lasers achieve a low threshold current density of 150 A/cm(2) (at a cavity length of 1500 mu m), internal quantum efficiency of similar to 95%, and low internal loss of 1.8 cm(-1). Both broad-area and ridge-waveguide laser devices are fabricated. For 100-mu m-wide stripe lasers with a cavity length of 800 Irm, a slope efficiency of 1.05 W/A and a characteristic temperature coefficient (T-0) of 230 K are achieved. The lifetime test demonstrates a reliable performance. The comparison with our fabricated InGaAs-InGaAsP(1.6 eV)-AlGaAs(1.87 eV) lasers and Al-free InGaAs-InGaAsP (1.6 eV)-InGaP lasers are also given and discussed. The selective etching between AlGaAs and InGaAsP is successfully used for the formation of a ridge-waveguide structure. For 4-mu m-wide ridge-waveguide laser devices, a maximum output power of 350 mW is achieved. The fundamental mode output power can be up to 190 mW with a slope efficiency as high as 0.94 W/A.

Influence of lateral propagating modes on laser output characteristics in selectively oxidized vertical cavity surface-emitting lasers with double oxide layers

The influence of lateral propagating modes on the threshold current and the spontaneous emission factor in selectively oxidized vertical cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) is investigated based on the mode behaviors of lateral propagating modes and the rate equation model. The numerical results show that the lateral propagating modes may be trapped in the aperture region for the selectively oxidized VCSEL with two oxide layers, one above and one below the active region. The output characteristics of VCSELs can be affected due to the reabsorption of the quasitrapped lateral propagating modes. A lower threshold current can be expected for a VCSEL with double oxide layers than that with a single oxide layer. The numerical results of rate equations also show that a larger spontaneous emission factor can be obtained by fitting the output-input curves for the VCSEL with double oxide layers. (C) 1999 American Institute of Physics. [S0021-8979(99)07919-0].

AlGaInP visible quantum well lasers for information technology

650 nm-range AlGaInP multi-quantum well (MQW) laser diodes grown by low pressure metal organic chemical vapor deposition (LP-MOCVD) have been studied and the results are presented in this paper. Threshold current density of broad area contact laser diodes can be as low as 350 A/cm(2). Laser diodes with buried-ridge strip waveguide structures were made, threshold currents and differential efficiencies are (22-40) mA and (0.2-0.7) mW/mA, respectively. Typical output power for the laser diodes is 5 mW, maximum output power of 15 mW has been obtained. Their operation temperature can be up to 90 degrees C under power of 5 mW. After operating under 90 degrees C and 5 mW for 72 hrs, the average increments for the threshold currents of the lasers at 25 degrees C and the operation currents at 5 mW (at 25 degrees C) are (2-3) mA and (3-5) mA, respectively. Reliability tests showed that no obvious degradation was observed after 1400 hours of CW operation under 50 degrees C and 2.5 mW.

Threshold reduction in strained-layer InGaAs/GaAs quantum well lasers by liquid phase epitaxy regrowth

When liquid phase epitaxy regrowth at 780 degrees C for 2 h is applied to the samples after molecular beam epitaxy, a decrease of the threshold current density in strained InGaAs/GaAs quantum well lasers by a factor of 3 to 4 is obtained. We suggest that this improvement is attributed to the reduction of nonradiative centers associated with deep levels at the three regions of the active region, the graded layer and the cladding layer. Indeed, a significant reduction of deep center densities has been observed by using minority and majority carrier injection deep level transient spectroscopy measurements. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

980nm InGaAs/InGaAsP quantum well lasers with AlGaAs cladding grown by metal organic chemical vapour deposition

The authors report on the fabrication of 980 nm InGaAs strained quantum well lasers with hybrid materials of InGaAsP as waveguide and AlGaAs as cladding grown by metal organic chemical vapour deposition. The InGaAs/InGaAsP/AlGaAs diode lasers (100 x 800 mu m) with broadened waveguide structure exhibit a threshold current of 180 mA, a slope efficiency of 1.0 W/A, and a high characteristic temperature coefficient (T-0) of 230 K.

Effect of reflectivity at the interface of oxide layer on transverse mode control in oxide confined vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers

The transverse mode control in oxide confined vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers is discussed by modeling the dielectric aperture as a uniform waveguide and an extra reflectivity at the oxide layer. The phase of the extra reflectivity and the refractive index step can be adjusted to change the mode threshold gain. We calculate the lateral refractive index step from the mode wavelength difference between aperture and perimeter modes, and compare it with that obtained from the weighted average index. The mode reflectivity in terms of the lateral optical confinement factor at the oxide layer is considered in calculating the threshold gain for transverse modes. The numerical results show that higher transverse modes can be suppressed by adjusting the position of a thin AlAs-oxide layer inside a three-quarter-wave layer in the distributed Bragg reflector. (C) 1998 American Institute of Physics. [S0021-8979(98)04007-9].

Theoretical investigation on quantum well lasers with extremely low vertical beam divergence and low threshold current

A specially designed quantum well laser for achieving extremely low vertical beam divergence was reported and theoretically investigated. The laser structure was characterized by two low index layers inserted between the waveguide layers and the cladding layers. The additional layers were intended to achieve wide optical spread in the cladding layers and strong confinement in the active region. This enabled significant reduction of beam divergence with no sacrifice in threshold current density. The numerical results showed that lasers with extremely low vertical beam divergence from 20 degrees down to 11 degrees and threshold current density of less than 131 A/cm(2) can be easily achieved by optimization of the structure parameters. Influences of individual key structure parameters on beam divergence and threshold current density are analyzed. Attention is also paid to the minimum cladding layer thicknesses needed to maintain low threshold current densities and low internal loss. The near and far field patterns are given and discussed. (C) 1998 American Institute of Physics.

High-performance multiplexed vibration sensor system based on fiber lasers - art. no. 683019

This paper describes a high-performance multiplexed vibration sensor system using fiber lasers. A serial vibration sensor array consists of four short cavity fiber lasers. The system employs a single, polarization-insensitive, unbalanced Michelson interferometer to translate individual laser wavelength shifts induced by vibration signals into interferometer phase shifts. A dense wavelength division demultiplexor (DWDM) with high channel isolation is inserted to demultiplex each laser signal as a wavelength filter. Finally, a digital phase demodulator based on the phase generated carrier technique is used to achieve high-resolution interrogation. Experimental results show that no observable crosstalk is measured on the output channels, and the minimal detectable acceleration of this system is similar to 200ng/root Hz at 250Hz, which is fundamentally limited by the frequency noise of the lasers.

Advances in high power semiconductor diode lasers - art. no. 682402

High power semiconductor lasers have broad applications in the fields of military and industry. Recent advances in high power semiconductor lasers are reviewed mainly in two aspects: improvements of diode lasers performance and optimization of packaging architectures of diode laser bars. Factors which determine the performance of diode lasers, such as power conversion efficiency, temperature of operation, reliability, wavelength stabilization etc., result from a combination of new semiconductor materials, new diode structures, careful material processing of bars. the latest progress of today's high-power diode lasers at home and abroad is briefly discussed and typical data are presented. The packaging process is of decisive importance for the applicability of high-power diode laser bars, not only technically but also economically. The packaging techniques include the material choosing and the structure optimizing of heat-sinks, the bonding between the array and the heat-sink, the cooling and the fiber coupling, etc. The status of packaging techniques is stressed. There are basically three different diode package architectural options according to the integration grade. Since the package design is dominated by the cooling aspect,. different effective cooling techniques are promoted by different package architectures and specific demands. The benefit and utility of each package are strongly dependent upon the fundamental optoelectronic properties of the individual diode laser bars. Factors which influence these properties are outlined and comparisons of packaging approaches for these materials are made. Modularity of package for special application requirements is an important developing tendency for high power diode lasers.