Degradation of AlInAs/InGaAs/InP quantum cascade lasers due to electrode adhesion failure

Pierścińska, Dorota; Pierściński, Kamil; Sobczak, Grzegorz; Gutowski, Piotr; Płuska, Mariusz; Bugajski, M.

doi:10.1016/j.microrel.2019.06.003

Cited by 5 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 23 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…However, the low thermal conductivity of QCL's multilayer superlattice gain medium and the ample operational electrical power cause significant self‐heating in QCLs, [ 12,13 ] which, over time, results in a rise in lasing threshold current, [ 6 ] a decrease in output power, [ 14 ] and even device failure. [ 15 ] Therefore, to better understand QCL's failure mechanism, thermal analysis and monitoring are necessary for designing QCLs with optimal performance.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…[5] They can also be used in optical wireless communication: [8] the "terahertz gap" appears due to the absence of radiation sources in this frequency range, and THz QCLs fill the terahertz gap and have been used in imaging and spectroscopy. [9][10][11] However, the low thermal conductivity of QCL's multilayer superlattice gain medium and the ample operational electrical power cause significant self-heating in QCLs, [12,13] which, over time, results in a rise in lasing threshold current, [6] a decrease in output power, [14] and even device failure. [15] Therefore, to better understand QCL's failure mechanism, thermal analysis and monitoring are necessary for designing QCLs with optimal performance.Techniques for temperature monitoring include microphotoluminescence, [16] Raman spectroscopy, [17] thermoreflectance spectroscopy, [18] lock-in IR Thermography, [19] and infrared scanning near field optical microscopy (IR-SNOM).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Near‐Field Thermal Profiling and 3D Anisotropic Thermal Analysis of Quantum Cascade Lasers

Abbas

Daunis²,

Pandey³

et al. 2022

Physica Status Solidi (a)

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Quantum cascade lasers (QCLs) are unipolar light sources wherein intersubband transitions of electrons occur in repeated layers of superlattices composed of semiconductor gain media. [1] The emission wavelength of QCLs is determined by the superlattice layer thickness and the material composition. Therefore, it can be tuned over a wide range in a given material system. [2] The typical operation wavelength of QCLs is in the mid-infrared (3.5-24 μm) and terahertz (1.2-4.9 THz). [3,4] Because the vibrational modes of many chemical compounds lie in the wavelength range of 3 to 15 μm, mid-infrared QCLs have found various applications in biological and chemical warfare agent detection [5,6] and pollutant detection, [7] and noninvasive medical diagnostics. [5] They can also be used in optical wireless communication: [8] the "terahertz gap" appears due to the absence of radiation sources in this frequency range, and THz QCLs fill the terahertz gap and have been used in imaging and spectroscopy. [9][10][11] However, the low thermal conductivity of QCL's multilayer superlattice gain medium and the ample operational electrical power cause significant self-heating in QCLs, [12,13] which, over time, results in a rise in lasing threshold current, [6] a decrease in output power, [14] and even device failure. [15] Therefore, to better understand QCL's failure mechanism, thermal analysis and monitoring are necessary for designing QCLs with optimal performance.Techniques for temperature monitoring include microphotoluminescence, [16] Raman spectroscopy, [17] thermoreflectance spectroscopy, [18] lock-in IR Thermography, [19] and infrared scanning near field optical microscopy (IR-SNOM). [20] For example, Raman spectroscopy as a non-contact thermometer was used to study output facet heating in an uncoated high-power continuous-wave QCL emitting at 8.5 μm. [17] A comparison of the spatial and temperature resolutions of these techniques can be found in Ref. [21] In this work, we report on developing an IR-SNOM technique with high temperature and spatial resolutions, both achieved by opening a subwavelength aperture at the tip of an IR fiber optic probe. We apply this technique to study the time constants in InP/InAlAs/InGaAs buried heterostructure (BH) mounted epi-layer side down QCLs--a geometry reported to have the best thermal performance by Pieŕscínska et al. [22] To verify the experimental findings, we develop an anisotropic 3D model to study steady-state and

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Near‐Field Thermal Profiling and 3D Anisotropic Thermal Analysis of Quantum Cascade Lasers

Abbas

Daunis²,

Pandey³

et al. 2022

Physica Status Solidi (a)

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…wavelength infrared (LWIR) QCLs (7-14 µm) cover an important atmospheric window and can be widely applied in trace gas analysis [1]. To be best of our knowledge, although many relevant investigations have been developed to study the degradation mechanisms of QCLs over the last 20 years [2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12], only a few of these investigations have reported on the causes of failure of LWIR QCLs [9][10][11][12] and fewer of them are focused on the high power LWIR QCL [10,12]. Therefore, the results of high power LWIR QCLs failure analysis should be accumulated extensively to improve the manufacture technology and expand the potential device applications.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Catastrophic failure of the back facet in watt-level power long wavelength infrared quantum cascade laser

Yin¹,

Zhang²,

Guo³

et al. 2022

J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Quantum cascade lasers (QCLs) suffer from catastrophic failure caused by serious self-heating, thus limiting their output power and working stability. In this study, we observed a distinctive failure morphology on the back facet of watt-level power QCL emitting at λ～7.7µm. The failure was caused by a massive localized current and the channel of the massive current can be observed in the cavity. Because the massive current significantly increased temperature nearby, two burned holes were formed around the channel. A 3D thermal model shows that the back facet is a vulnerable location for failure because light absorption by the high-reflectance (HR) metal coating increases the facet temperature significantly. However, the starting point of the massive current has a certain distance from the facet which is the hottest location in the cavity. Therefore, we conduct a hypothesis that the cause of the massive current is thermal strain relaxations induced by temperature gradient. We calculated the positions of the relaxation points and one of them correspond with the failure starting point found experimentally. The strain relaxation damaged the active region, thus leading to the formation of the massive current.

show abstract

“…The heat dissipation plays a critical role in the device performance of mid-IR QCLs. Among the methods used to reduce the laser overheating are the optimization of the laser active region and waveguide design, the processing technology, mounting and device packaging [ 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

In-Depth Experimental Analysis of Influence of Electroplated Gold Thickness on Thermal and Electro-Optical Properties of mid-IR AlInAs/InGaAs/InP Quantum Cascade Lasers

Pierścińska¹,

Pierściński²,

Sobczak³

et al. 2021

Materials

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In this paper, we have examined the influence of electroplated gold thickness on the thermal and electro-optical properties of mid-IR AlInAs/InGaAs, InP QCLs. The experimental results show a significant reduction of the temperature of QCL active region (AR) with increasing gold layer thickness. For QCLs with 5.0 μm gold thickness, we observed a 50% reduction of the active region temperature. An improvement of key electro-optical parameters, that is, threshold current density and maximum emitted power for structures with thick gold, was observed. The results of micro-Raman characterization show that the electroplated gold layer introduces only moderate compressive strain in top InP cladding, which is well below the critical value for the creation of misfit dislocations.

show abstract

Degradation of AlInAs/InGaAs/InP quantum cascade lasers due to electrode adhesion failure

Cited by 5 publications

References 23 publications

Near‐Field Thermal Profiling and 3D Anisotropic Thermal Analysis of Quantum Cascade Lasers

Near‐Field Thermal Profiling and 3D Anisotropic Thermal Analysis of Quantum Cascade Lasers

Catastrophic failure of the back facet in watt-level power long wavelength infrared quantum cascade laser

In-Depth Experimental Analysis of Influence of Electroplated Gold Thickness on Thermal and Electro-Optical Properties of mid-IR AlInAs/InGaAs/InP Quantum Cascade Lasers

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About