Fault Protection of Broad-Area Laser Diodes

摘要

Detailed reliability studies of high-power, CW, broad-area, GaAs-based laser- diodes were performed. Optical and electrical transients occurring prior to device failure by catastrophic optical-damage (COD) were observed. These transients were correlated with COD formation as observed in laser diodes with an optical window in the n-side electrode. In addition, custom electronics were designed to fault-protect the laser diodes during aging tests, i.e. each time a transient (fault) was detected, the operating current was temporarily cut off within 4us of fault detection. The lifetime of fault-protected 808-nm laser-diode bars operated at a constant current of 120A (～130W) and 35℃ exceeded similar unprotected devices by factors of 2.