Catastrophic Optical Bulk Damage in High-Power InGaAs-AlGaAs Strained Quantum Well Lasers

Sin, Yongkun; Lingley, Zachary; Presser, Nathan; Brodie, Miles; Ives, Neil; Moss, Steven C.

doi:10.1109/jstqe.2017.2686336

Cited by 22 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…Several attempts were made to image these defects, however no crystallographic defects were observed. This is despite having used the same TEM sample preparation and imaging techniques in our facilities to observe crystallographic defects in other VCSEL and high-power edge-emitting laser diode samples [16]. In these previous studies, dislocations were observed, and corresponded spatially with dark-line defects seen in EL and EBIC images.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Optical Beam Induced Current and Time Resolved Electro-Luminescence in Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Lasers During Accelerated Aging

et al. 2019

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Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Lasers are characterized under a high magnification optical microscope for reliability during accelerated aging using Optical Beam Induced Current and Electroluminescence imaging and spectroscopy, and also with electrical IV characterization. EL image data is captured with time resolution during device failure, and compared to the OBIC images, yielding insight into failure mechanisms. In particular, sudden, localized, permanent reductions in EL intensity around the outside of the laser oxide aperture are observed during the period of failure, indicating step-wise rather than gradual degradation in laser performance. These failure events are temporally correlated with sudden increases in low-injection junction current. Both OBIC and IV characterization suggest mid-gap defect formation as the cause of the observed failures.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Optical Beam Induced Current and Time Resolved Electro-Luminescence in Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Lasers During Accelerated Aging

et al. 2019

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“…This process was necessary for EBIC techniques to detect any degradation-related features such as dark spot or line defects in the active region at 30 kV in SEM. Our group has extensively employed EBIC to detect dark spot / line defects in degraded edgeemitting 9-nm single-and multi-mode InGaAs-AlGaAs strained QW lasers [17]. Dark spot or line defects observed in EBIC are manifestations of dislocations in the active layer.…”

Section: Failure Mode Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This indicates that their physical origin of degradation is different. Our group proposed specific point defects (arsenic anti-sites) behaving as both NRCs and electron traps (EL2 traps) as the physical origin of degradation in EELs [17]. Point defects must be NRCs and electron traps for EELs to generate dislocations (dark spot or line defects in EBIC) via REDR (recombination enhanced defect reaction).…”

Section: Failure Mode Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Reliability and failure mode analysis of high-speed 850-nm oxide-confined multi-mode VCSELs for space applications

Sin

Theiss²,

Huang³

et al. 2023

Vertical-Cavity Surface-Emitting Lasers XXVII

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Remarkable progress made in performance characteristics and reliability of high-speed (> 10 GHz) 850-nm multi-mode (MM) oxide-confined vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSELs) during the last decade has led them to find applications in space satellite systems. The main advantage of deploying high-speed VCSELs in space satellites over directly modulated 850-nm edge emitting lasers is the absence of COMD (catastrophic optical mirror damage). In recent years, leading VCSEL manufacturers introduced higher speed (~ 20 GHz or 25 Gbps) VCSELs with encouraging characteristics. However, little has been reported on reliability and failure modes of these state-of-the-art VCSELs although it is crucial to understand failure modes and degradation mechanisms in these VCSELs through physics of failure investigation and subsequently develop VCSELs that exceed lifetime requirements for space satellite systems. For the present study, we performed short-term and long-term accelerated life-tests on 25 Gbps oxide-confined MM VCSELs to study reliability of these devices. Our goal is to extract credible reliability model parameters (thermal activation energy and current exponent factor) from these life-tests to determine suitability of these lasers for future space satellite systems. We also performed failure mode analysis on VCSELs at different stages of degradation using various techniques. We employed nondestructive techniques including optical beam induced current (OBIC) and electron beam induced current (EBIC) techniques as well as destructive techniques including focused ion beam (FIB) and high-resolution TEM techniques. Our detailed reliability and failure mode analysis results are reported along with our understanding on the physical origin of degradation in high-speed VCSELs with strained InGaAs quantum wells.

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“…This means that most of the information about the COD process is obtained by postmortem analysis of failed devices. The crystallographic fingerprint of the COD is the dark line defect (DLD), which is an elongated defect, aligned with the laser cavity, that gives a dark contrast in luminescence images, e.g., cathodoluminescence (CL) [37], and electroluminescence (EL) [32].…”

Section: Post-cod Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Thermomechanical issues of high power laser diode catastrophic optical damage

Souto

Pura

Jiménez

2019

J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys.

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Catastrophic optical degradation (COD) of high power laser diodes is a crucial factor limiting ultra high power lasers. The understanding of the COD process is essential to improve the endurance of the high power laser diodes. The COD is observed as a process in which the active part of the laser diode is destroyed, forming characteristic defects, the so called dark line defects (DLDs). The DLDs are formed by arrays of dislocations generated during the laser operation. Local heating associated with non-radiative recombination is assumed to be at the origin of the COD process. A summary of the methods used to assess the COD, both in real time and post-mortem is presented. The main approaches developed in the last years to model the heat transport in the laser structures under non homogeneous temperature distribution are overviewed. Special emphasis is paid to the impact of the low dimensionality of QWs in two physical properties playing a major role in the COD process, namely, thermal conductivity and mechanical strength. A discussion about the impact of the nanoscale in both physical properties is presented. Finally, we summarize the main issues of the thermomechanical modelling of COD. Within this model the COD is launched when the local thermal stresses generated around the heat source overcome the yield stress of the active zone of the laser. The thermal runaway is related to the sharp decrease of the thermal conductivity once the onset of plasticity has been reached in the active zone of the laser.

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Catastrophic Optical Bulk Damage in High-Power InGaAs-AlGaAs Strained Quantum Well Lasers

Cited by 22 publications

References 13 publications

Optical Beam Induced Current and Time Resolved Electro-Luminescence in Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Lasers During Accelerated Aging

Optical Beam Induced Current and Time Resolved Electro-Luminescence in Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Lasers During Accelerated Aging

Reliability and failure mode analysis of high-speed 850-nm oxide-confined multi-mode VCSELs for space applications

Thermomechanical issues of high power laser diode catastrophic optical damage

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