Characterization of GaS-Passivated Quantum-Well Laser Diodes

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe degradation of AlGaAs/GaAs diode laser performance during operation is typically due to catastrophic optical damage of the facets caused when thermal runaway occurs. These heating effects are due to the presence of non-radiative recombination sites at and near the facets. MOCVD GaS is deposited on the facets of 825-nm ridge waveguide AlGaAs/GaAs quantumwell laser diodes as an electronic passivation to reduce the number of surface states available for non-radiative recombination. For passivated devices, a peak pulsed power nearly double that of unpassivated devices was achieved. The passivated devices also exhibit a longer lifetime before degradation. The impact of the passivation process on other optical characteristics of the laser diodes will also be discussed.