Low threshold current high-temperature operation of InGaAs/AlGaAsstrained-quantum-well lasers

The authors report improved high-temperature characteristics for In_0.2Ga_0.8As strained-quantum-well ridge waveguide lasers with an optimized cavity design. They have fabricated In_0.2 Ga_0.8As lasers that operate CW at up to 220°C with over 9-mW output power. At 200°C the threshold current is as low as 15.9 mA for a 400-μm-long laser with 35/98% reflectivity facets. Optimization of the laser cavity also improves the high-temperature operation of quantum-well lasers in other material systems; GaAs quantum well lasers that operate at up to 220°C CW have been fabricated     

High-power temperature-insensitive gain-offset InGaAs/GaAsvertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers

The authors have grown 997 nm vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers with an offset between the wavelength of the cavity mode and the quantum well gain peak to improve high temperature operation, and with higher aluminum-content barriers around the active region to improve the carrier confinement. They fabricated lasers of 8-15 and 20-μm diameters. The 8-μm-diameter devices exhibited CW operation up to 140°C with little change in threshold current from 15°C to 100°C, and the 20-μm-diameter devices showed CW output power of 11 mW at 25°C without significant heat sinking     

Ultrahigh temperature and ultrahigh speed operation of 1.3 μmstrain-compensated AlGaInAs/InP uncooled laser diodes

High performance 1.3 μm uncooled lasers with excellent high temperature and high speed characteristics are reported. A CW characteristic temperature of 105 K between 25 and 85°C, a maximum CW operating temperature above 170°C, and an intrinsic 3 dB modulation bandwidths estimated at ⩾23 GHz at 25°C and 15 GHz at 85°C, have been achieved. These values are among the best obtained for 1.3 μm AlGaInAs laser devices     

High temperature, high power InGaAs/GaAs quantum-well lasers withlattice-matched InGaP cladding layers

The authors report the high-temperature and high-power operation of strained-layer InGaAs/GaAs quantum well lasers with lattice-matched InGaP cladding layers grown by gas-source molecular beam epitaxy. Self-aligned ridge waveguide lasers of 3-μm width were fabricated. These lasers have low threshold currents (7 mA for 250-μm-long cavity and 12 mA for 500-μm-long cavity), high external quantum efficiencies (0.9 mW/mA), and high peak powers (160 mW for 3-μm-wide lasers and 285 mW for 5-μm-wide laser) at room temperature under continuous wave (CW) conditions. The CW operating temperature of 185°C is the highest ever reported for InGaAs/GaAs/InGaP quantum well lasers, and is comparable to the best result (200°C) reported for InGaAs/GaAs/AlGaAs lasers     

85°C investigation of uncooled 10-Gb/s directly modulatedInGaAsP RWG GC-DFB lasers

The 10-Gb/s directly modulated performance of InGaAsP ridge waveguide (RWG) gain coupled (GC) DFB lasers is investigated up to 85°C. At room temperature, devices have relaxation oscillation frequencies f_relax greater than 20 GHz and damping Γ greater than 100 GHz, f_relax is greater than 6 GHz at 85°C. Constant output power or extinction ratio are possible from 25°C to 75°C chip temperature, with open eyes observable up to 85°C. Back-to-back transmission measurements in a Nortel Networks OC-192 system show error free transmission of a 2²³-1 pseudorandom bit sequence at 83°C     

High-temperature operation of InGaAs/InGaAsP compressive-strainedQW lasers with low threshold currents

We investigated the influence of the band gap wavelength of barrier layers and separate confinement heterostructure (SCH) layers λ_SCH on the high-temperature operation of InGaAs/InGaAsP compressive-strained quantum-well (QW) lasers. The optimum λ_SCH was 1.2 μm, at which carriers were sufficiently confined into quantum wells. The QW laser with λ_SCH = 1.2 μm exhibited low threshold currents of 2.3 mA at 20°C and 9.7 mA at 100°C and CW lasing up to 150°C     

High T0 long-wavelength InGaAsN quantum-well lasersgrown by GSMBE using a solid arsenic source

We demonstrate high performance, λ=1.3- and 1.4-μm wavelength InGaAsN-GaAs-InGaP quantum-well (QW) lasers grown lattice-matched to GaAs substrates by gas source molecular beam epitaxy (GSMBE) using a solid As source. Threshold current densities of 1.15 and 1.85 kA/cm² at λ=1.3 and 1.4 μm, respectively, were obtained for the lasers with a 7-μm ridge width and a 3-mm-long cavity. Internal quantum efficiencies of 82% and 52% were obtained for λ=1.3 and 1.4 μm emission, respectively, indicating that nonradiative processes are significantly reduced in the quantum well at λ=1.3 μm due to reduced N-H complex formation. These Fabry-Perot lasers also show high characteristic temperatures of T₀ =122 K and 100 K at λ=1.3 and 1.4 μm, respectively, as well as a low emission wavelength temperature dependence of (0.39±0.01) nm/°C over a temperature range of from 10°C to 60°C     

Highly uniform operation of high-performance 1.3-μm AlGaInAs-InPmonolithic laser arrays

We describe the fabrication of monolithically integrated 1×12 arrays of 1.3-μm strain-compensated multiquantum-well AlGaInAs-InP ridge lasers. The laser array shows highly uniform characteristics in threshold current, slope efficiency, and lasing wavelength with a standard deviation of 0.08 and 0.27 mA, 0.012 and 0.007 W/A, and 0.59 and 0.57 nm, respectively, at 20°C and 100°C. Besides, each laser on the array exhibits a low threshold current of 8 mA at 20°C and 21 mA at 100°C, a characteristic temperature of 92 K, and a slope efficiency drop of 0.7 db between 20°C and 80°C. A low thermal crosstalk of less than -4 dB can be obtained from one diode as the injected current of other elements is increased to 70 mA. Also, each laser on the array has a negligible degradation after a 24-hr burn-in test at 80 mA and 100°C. An expected lifetime of more than 20 years is estimated for the lasers when operating at 10 mW and 85°C. The lasers have a small-signal modulation bandwidth of about 9 GHz at 25°C and a low relative intensity noise of -155 dB/Hz without an isolator at 2.5 GHz. It can transmit a 2.5-GHz signal to 50 km through standard single-mode fiber and to 308 m through multimode fiber, with a clear eye opening in OC-48 data-rate tests     

InGaAsP (λ=1.3 μm) strip buried heterostructure lasersgrown by MOCVD

The authors describe InGaAsP-InP index guides strip buried heterostructure lasers (SBH) operating at 1.3 μm with a 1.1-μm guiding layer grown by a two-step atmospheric pressure metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) growth procedure. These lasers are compared with buried heterostructure lasers having similar guiding layers under the active layer but terminated at the edge of the active layer. SBH lasers with 0.15-μm-thick active layer strips, 5-μm wide, and guide layers varying from 0 to 0.7 μm have threshold currents increasing from 34 to 59 mA, and nearly constant differential external quantum efficiencies of 0.2 mW/mA. The threshold current increases more rapidly with temperature with increasing guide layer thickness, with T₀ decreasing from 70°C for lasers without a guide layer to 54.3°C for lasers without a guide layer to 54.3°C for lasers with 0.7-μm-thick guide layers. Output powers of up to 30 mW/facet have been obtained from 254-μm-long lasers and were found to be insensitive to guide layer thickness     

Temperature dependence of the bandwidth of buried heterostructuredistributed feedback lasers

Reports that the etched-mesa buried-heterostructure distributed-feedback lasers (λ = 1.3 μm) fabricated using semi-insulating InP blocking lasers have bandwidths in the 12-17 GHz range at 20°C. 15 mW (18 GHz at 20 mW). The bandwidth decreases with increasing temperature at low powers. For the practical range of interest from 20°C to 40°C, the observed decrease in bandwidth is 1.0±0.5 GHz at 15 mW output power. A large sublinearity in the light-versus-current characteristics is generally associated with a rollover in the bandwidth power curve     

All MOCVD grown 850-nm-wavelength refractive-index-guidedsemiconductor-buried vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers withp/n-InGaP current blocking layers

All metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) grown 850-nm-wavelength refractive-index-guided semiconductor-buried vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser is proposed and their performance is investigated. P/n-InGaP current-blocking region enables both selective regrowth and the formation of refractive-index-guided region which surrounds multiquantum-well active/core regions. We have achieved room temperature CW operation of the new types of vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers. The minimum threshold current was 9.5 mA with 18 μm square mesa size at 30°C. The device lased at up to 70°C, and the maximum output power exceeds 1 mW at above 30°C. The near field pattern indicates the single-lobed output beam at low bias current     

Aging characteristics of AlGaAs/GaAs DFB lasers with a windowstructure

A spectrum-monitored aging test of AlGaAs/GaAs DFB lasers with a window structure has been performed at 50°C under 5 mW output power for 3000 h. The results show a significant improvement in the reliability of the lasers. The mean increasing rate of the driving current was about 4.2% and 83% of the devices maintained stable, single-mode oscillation     

Power stabilisation of uncooled 980 nm pump laser modules from 10to 100°C

Efficient fibre Bragg grating wavelength and power stabilisation of 980 nm pump lasers at high fibre-coupled output power (250 mW at 10°C and 95 mW at 100°C) over a wide temperature range of 90°C is demonstrated     

High-temperature CW operation of planar buried-ridge structurelasers at λ=1.5 μm

GaInAsP/InP-PBRS lasers emitting at 1.5 μm have been fabricated by multiple liquid-phase epitaxy. Effective current confinement is achieved without current blocking layers. CW threshold current is as low as 9 mA at 25°C. Output powers per facet of up to 10 mW at 80°C and 3.5 mW at 100°C are obtained. The maximum operation temperature of 110°C is the highest value yet achieved with this type of laser at 1°5 μm     

Optical thermometry through infrared excited upconversionfluorescence emission in Er3+- and Er3+-Yb3+-doped chalcogenide glasses

Optical thermometry based upon infrared excited upconversion fluorescence emission in Er³⁺- and Er³⁺-Yb³⁺ - doped Ga₂S₃-La₂O₃ chalcogenide glasses excited at 1.54 and 1.06 μm, respectively, is presented. Temperature sensing in the region of 20°C-220°C with 0.3°C accuracy using excitation powers readily obtainable from commercially available semiconductor lasers was achieved. The temperature sensing approach is independent of fluctuations in excitation intensity and transmission and requires a simple and low-cost signal detection and processing system. The results also indicate that the glassy host material plays a major role in the performance of the sensing system     

Low-threshold current, high-efficiency 1.3-μm wavelengthaluminum-free InGaAsN-based quantum-well lasers

We demonstrate high-performance Al-free InGaAsN-GaAs-InGaP-based long-wavelength quantum-well (QW) lasers grown on GaAs substrates by gas-source molecular beam epitaxy using a RF plasma nitrogen source. Continuous wave (CW) operation of InGaAsN-GaAs QW lasers is demonstrated at λ=1.3 μm at a threshold current density of only J_TH =1.32 kA/cm². These narrow ridge (W=8.5 μm) lasers also exhibit an internal loss of only 3.1 cm^-1 and an internal efficiency of 60%. Also, a characteristic temperature of T₀=150 K from 10°C to 60°C was measured, representing a significant improvement over conventional λ=1.3 μm InGaAsP-InP lasers. Under pulsed operation, a record high maximum operating temperature of 125°C and output powers greater than 300 mW (pulsed) and 120 mW (CW) were also achieved     

Continuous operation of high-power (200 mW) strained-layerGa1-xInxAs/GaAs quantum-well lasers with emissionwavelengths 0.87⩽λ⩽0.95 μm

Separate confinement single-quantum-well lasers with 100-120 Å-thick strained Ga_1-xIn_xAs/GaAs active layers have been grown on (100) GaAs substrates by metalorganic chemical vapour deposition. Ten-stripe proton-implanted arrays with 90 μm-wide aperture and 250 μm cavity length emit 200 mW CW optical power at wavelengths 0.87⩽λ⩽0.95 μm. Lifetest data on an uncoated device emitting 90 mW/facet at 50°C and λ=0.95 μm suggest a mean-time-to-failure in excess of 2500 h at room temperature. The performance of lasers with strained Ga_1-xIn_xAs quantum wells is comparable to that of unstrained Al_xGa_1-xAs/GaAs quantum-well lasers without facet coating     

Long-wavelength strained quantum-well lasers oscillating up to210°C on InGaAs ternary substrates

Long-wavelength InGaAs-InAlGaAs strained quantum-well lasers have been fabricated on In_0.22Ga_0.78As ternary substrates grown by the Bridgman method. The threshold current density and lasing wavelength at 20°C are 245 A/cm² and 1.226 μm, respectively. The device has lased up to 210°C, which is the highest operating temperature ever reported for long-wavelength semiconductor lasers. The temperature sensitivity of the slope efficiency between 20°C and 120°C is only -0.0051 dB/K, showing suppressed carrier overflow owing to deep potential quantum wells. These high-temperature durabilities of this laser are fascinating features for application to optical subscriber and optical interconnection systems     

Recent progress in high-power GaInAsP lasers

The high-power characteristics (180 mW, CW) and reliability of 1.48-μm Fabry-Perot laser diodes are studied for V-grooved inner stripe lasers grown by liquid phase epitaxy on p-type substrate (VIPS lasers). Their potential as pumping sources of erbium-doped fiber amplifiers is reported, and their power saturation behavior at several wavelengths is discussed. Aging tests were conducted at high power levels of up to 75% CW maximum power (P_max) at -40, 25, and 70°C. The ageing power reached more than 200 mW at -40°C; however, no significant degradation was observed at any temperature level. At 25°C the median lifetime is estimated to be 60000 h, and stable operation is observed at the highest aging level (to date) of 200 mW for up to 1600 h at -40°C     

Distributed-feedback quantum cascade lasers emitting in the 9-μmband with InP top cladding layers

Two different high performance quantum cascade distributed-feedback lasers with four quantum-well-based active regions and InP top cladding layers are presented. The first device, which emitted at 9.5 μm, was mounted junction down in order to get high average powers of up to 71 mW at -30°C and 30 mW at room temperature. The other device, which lased at 9.1 μm, was optimized for high pulsed operating temperatures and tested up to 150°C at 1.5% duty cycle. The emission of both lasers stayed single mode with more than 20-dB side-mode suppression ratio over the entire investigated power and temperature range