Many applications such as pumping of solid state lasers or ignition of explosives require high optical output powers during a short period. Pulsed operated diode lasers meet these requirements. They can be driven at elevated power levels, well above the ones specified for continuous wave (cw) operation. The optical near-field intensity of a diode laser in this operation regime is a key parameter since it determines the beam properties of the device. High power AlGaAs/GaAs quantum well broad area diode lasers are subjected to single pulse step tests carried out up to and beyond their ultimate limits of operation. Laser near-fields are monitored on a picosecond time scale using a streak-camera setup during pulse currents of up to ~50 times the threshold current. A transition from gain guiding to thermally-induced index guiding of the near-field is shown. Further power increase is prevented by catastrophic optical damage (COD). This sudden failure mechanism is studied in conjunction with filamentary properties of the near-field. The defect growth dynamics resolved on the picosecond time scale is used to gather inside into the physics behind COD.