GaN based ultraviolet laser diodes

In the past few years,many groups have focused on the research and development of GaN-based ultraviolet laser diodes(UV LDs).Great progresses have been achieved even though many challenges exist.In this article,we analyze the challenges of developing GaN-based ultraviolet laser diodes,and the approaches to improve the performance of ultraviolet laser diode are reviewed.With these techniques,room temperature(RT)pulsed oscillation of AlGaN UVA(ultraviolet A)LD has been realized,with a lasing wavelength of 357.9 nm.Combining with the suppression of thermal effect,the high output power of 3.8 W UV LD with a lasing wavelength of 386.5 nm was also fabricated.

Gallium nitride blue laser diodes with pulsed current operation exceeding 15 W in optical output power

Since Shuji Nakamura first demonstrated the nitride laser in 1996[1],the domain of semiconductor laser technology has undergone a period of remarkable growth[2,3].Al In Ga N-based diode lasers(LDs)have proven their exceptional capabilities across a spectrum of pivotal applications,including high-density data storage,laser displays,laser lighting,and quantum technology[4].

Material Growth and Device Fabrication of GaAs Based 1.3μm GaInNAs Quantum Well Laser Diodes

Material growth and device fabrication of the first 1.3μm quantum well （QW） edge emitting laser diodes in China are reported. Through the optimization of the molecular beam epitaxy （MBE） growth conditions and the tuning of the indium and nitrogen composition of the GalnNAs QWs, the emission wavelengths of the QWs can be tuned to 1.3μm. Ridge geometry waveguide laser diodes are fabricated. The lasing wavelength is 1.3μm under continuous current injection at room temperature with threshold current of 1kA/cm^2 for the laser diode structures with the cleaved facet mirrors. The output light power over 30mW is obtained.

Material Growth and Device Fabrication of GaN-Based Blue-Violet Laser Diodes

Studies on first GaN-based blue-violet laser diodes(LDs) in China mainland are reported.High quality GaN materials as well as GaN-based quantum wells laser structures are grown by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition method.The X-ray double-crystal diffraction rocking curve measurements show the full-width half maximum of 180″ and 185″ for (0002) symmetric reflection and (10 12) skew reflection,respectively.A room temperature mobility of 850cm2/(V·s) is obtained for a 3μm thick GaN film.Gain guided and ridge geometry waveguide laser diodes are fabricated with cleaved facet mirrors at room temperature under pulse current injection.The lasing wavelength is 405 9nm.A threshold current density of 5kA/cm2 and an output light power over 100mW are obtained for ridge geometry waveguide laser diodes.

High-Power Distributed Feedback Laser Diodes Emitting at 820nm

By etching a second-order grating directly into the Al-free optical waveguide region of a ridgewaveguide（RW） AlGaInAs/AlGaAs distributed feedback（DFB） laser diode,a front facet output power of 30mW is obtained at about 820nm with a single longitudinal mode. The Al-free grating surface permits the re-growth of a high-quality cladding layer that yields excellent device performance. The threshold current of these laser diodes is 57mA,and the slope efficiency is about 0.32mW/mA.

Temperature Distribution in Ridge Structure InGaN Laser Diodes and Its Influence on Device Characteristics

Time-dependent thermal simulation of ridge-geometry InGaN laser diodes is carried out with a two-dimensional model. A high temperature in the waveguide layer and a large temperature step between the regions under and outside the ridge are generated due to the poor thermal conductivity of the sapphire substrate and the large threshold current and voltage. The temperature step is thought to have a strong influence on the characteristics of the laser diodes. Time-resolved measurements of light-current curves,spectra, and the far-field pattern of the InGaN laser diodes under pulsed operation are performed. The results show that the thermal lensing effect improves the confinement of the higher order modes and leads to a lower threshold current and a higher slope efficiency of the device while the high temperature in the active layer results in a drastic decrease in the slope efficiency.

High Power 808nm AlGaAs/GaAs Quantum Well Laser Diodes with Broad Waveguide

The 808nm laser diodes with a broad waveguide are designed and fabricated.The thickness of the Al_ 0.35 - Ga_ 0.65 As waveguide is increased to 0.9μm.In order to suppress the super modes,the thickness of the Al_ 0.55 Ga_ 0.45 As cladding layers is reduced to only 0.7μm while keeping the transverse radiation losses of the fundamental mode below 0.2cm -1 .The structures are grown by metal organic chemical vapour deposition.The devices show excellent performances.The maximum output power of 10.2W in the 100μm broad-area laser diodes is obtained.

Thermal analysis of GaN laser diodes in a package structure

Using the finite-element method, the thermal resistances of GaN laser diode devices in a TO 56 package for both epi-up configuration and epi-down configuration are calculated. The effects of various parameters on the thermal characteristics are analysed, and the thicknesses of the AlN submount for both epi-up configuration and epi-down configuration are optimized. The obtained result provides a reference for the parameter selection of the package materials.

Effect of microstructure of Au80Sn20 solder on the thermal resistance TO56 packaged GaN-based laser diodes

Au80Sn20 alloy is a widely used solder for laser diode packaging.In this paper,the thermal resistance of Ga N-based blue laser diodes packaged in TO56 cans were measured by the forward voltage method.The microstructures of Au80Sn20 solder were then investigated to understand the reason for the difference in thermal resistance.It was found that the microstructure with a higher content of Au-rich phase in the center of the solder and a lower content of(Au,Ni)Sn phase at the interface of the solder/heat sink resulted in lower thermal resistance.This is attributed to the lower thermal resistance of Au-rich phase and higher thermal resistance of(Au,Ni)Sn phase.

Performance Improvement of GaN-Based Violet Laser Diodes

The influences of InGaN/GaN multiple quantum wells (MQWs) and AlGaN electron-blocking layers (EBL) on the performance of GaN-based violet laser diodes are investigated. Compared with the InGaN/GaN MQWs grown at two different temperatures, the same-temperature growth of InGaN well and GaN barrier layers has a positive effect on the threshold current and slope efficiency of laser diodes, indicating that the quality of MQWs is improved. In addition, the performance of GaN laser diodes could be further improved by increasing Al content in the AlGaN EBL due to the fact that the electron leakage current could be reduced by properly increasing the barrier height of AlGaN EBL. The violet laser diode with a peak output power of 20 W is obtained.

Role of Thermal Stresses in Degradation of High Power Laser Diodes

Catastrophic degradation of high power laser diodes is due to the generation of extended defects inside the active parts of the laser structure during the laser operation.The mechanism driving the degradation is strongly related to the existence of localized thermal stresses generated during the laser operation.These thermal stresses can overcome the yield strength of the materials forming the active part of the laser diode.Different factors contribute to reduce the laser power threshold for degradation.Among them the thermal transport across the laser structure constitutes a critical issue for the reliability of the device.

Influences of quantum noises on direct-modulated properties of 1.3-μm InGaAsP/InP laser diodes

Due to the zero dispersion point at 1.3μm in optical fibres, 1.3-μm InGaAsP/InP laser diodes have become main light sources in fibre communication systems recently. Influences of quantum noises on direct-modulated properties of single-mode 1.3-μm InGaAsP/InP laser diodes are investigated in this article. Considering the carrier and photon noises and the cross-correlation between the two noises, the power spectrum of the photon density and the signal-to-noise ratio （SNR） of the direct-modulated single-mode laser system are calculated using the linear approximation method. We find that the stochastic resonance （SR） always appears in the dependence of the SNR on the bias current density, and is strongly affected by the cross-correlation coefficient between the carrier and photon noises, the frequency of modulation signal, and the photon lifetime in the laser cavity. Hence, it is promising to use the SR mechanism to enhance the SNR of direct-modulated InGaAsP/InP laser diodes and improve the quality of optical fibre communication systems.

Effect of Droop Phenomenon in InGaN/GaN Blue Laser Diodes on Threshold Current

Electroluminescence （EL） and temperature-dependent photolumineseenee measurements are performed to study the internal quantum efficiency droop phenomenon of blue laser diodes （LDs） before lasing. Based on the ABC mode, the EL result demonstrates that non-radiative recombination rates of LDs with threshold current densities of 4 and 6kA/cm2 are similar, while LD with threshold current density of 4kA/cm2 exhibits a smaller auger- like recombination rate compared with the one of 6kA/cm2. The internal quantum efficiency droop is more serious for LD with higher threshold current density. temperature-dependent photoluminescence is consistent The internal quantum efficiency value estimated from with EL measurements.

High Coupling Efficiency of the Fiber-Coupled Module Based on Photonic-Band-Crystal Laser Diodes

The coupling efficiency of the beam combination and the fiber-coupled module is limited due to the large vertical divergent angle of conventional semiconductor laser diodes. We present a high coupling efficiency module using photonic-band-crystal （PBC） laser diodes with narrow vertical divergent angles. Three PBC single-emitter laser diodes are combined into a fiber with core diameter of 105μm and numerical aperture of 0.22. A high coupling efficiency of 94.4% is achieved and the brightness is calculated to be 1.T MW/（cm2.sr） with the injection current of 8A.

Room-temperature continuous-wave operation of GaN-based blue-violet laser diodes with a lifetime longer than 1000h

GaN-based continuous-wave operated blue-violet laser diodes(LDs) with long lifetime are demonstrated, which are grown on a c-plane GaN substrate by metal organic chemical vapor deposition with a 10 × 600 μm^2 ridge waveguide structure.The electrical and optical characteristics of a blue-violet LD are investigated under direct-current injection at room temperature(25 °C). The stimulated emission wavelength and peak optical power of the LD are around 413 nm and over 600 mW, respectively.In addition, the threshold current density and voltage are as small as 1.46 kA/cm^2 and 4.1 V, respectively. Moreover, the lifetime is longer than 1000 hours under room-temperature continuous-wave operation.

Effect of inhomogeneous broadening on threshold current of GaN-based green laser diodes

The inhomogeneous broadening parameter and the internal loss of green LDs are determined by experiments and theoretical fitting. It is found that the inhomogeneous broadening plays an important role on the threshold current density of green LDs. The green LD with large inhomogeneous broadening even cannot lase. Therefore, reducing inhomogeneous broadening is a key issue to improve the performance of green LDs.

Ⅲ-nitride based ultraviolet laser diodes

In recent years,because of their small size,high efficiency and environment-friendly advantages,Ⅲ-nitride based ultraviolet(UV)light-emitting diodes(LEDs)have been widely used in many areas to substitute for mercury lamps,such as in 3D printing,curing and sterilization.Ⅲ-nitride alloys cover the whole UV spectrum which is comprised of UV-A(320–400 nm),UV-B(280–320 nm)and UV-C(200–280 nm)by controlling Al/Ga/In content.In addition,Ⅲ-nitride based UV laser diodes(LDs)also have some potential applications in the case of high-power-density,narrow-spectrum,good-directional lighting.However,Ⅲ-nitride based UV laser diodes still have many challenges such as poor crystal quality and low hole concentration in p-type AlGaN.

Different influences of u-InGaN upper waveguide on the performance of GaN-based blue and green laser diodes

Performances of blue and green laser diodes（LDs） with different u-InGaN upper waveguides（UWGs） are investigated theoretically by using LASTIP. It is found that the slope efficiency（SE） of blue LD decreases due to great optical loss when the indium content of u-InGaN UWG is more than 0.02, although its leakage current decreases obviously. Meanwhile the SE of the green LD increases when the indium content of u-InGaN UWG is varied from 0 to 0.05, which is attributed to the reduction of leakage current and the small increase of optical loss. Therefore, a new blue LD structure with In（0.05） Ga（0.95）N lower waveguide（LWG） is designed to reduce the optical loss, and its slope efficiency is improved significantly.

Time delay in InGaN multiple quantum well laser diodes at room temperature

This paper reports that a long delay between the beginning of pumping current pulse and the onset of optical pulse is observed in InGaN laser diodes. The delay time decreases as the pumping current increases, and the speed of the delay time reduction becomes slower as the current amplitude increases further. Such delay phenomena are remarkably less serious in laser diodes grown on GaN substrate than those on sapphire. It attributes the delay to the traps which cause a large optical loss by saturable absorption and retard the laser action. The traps can be bleached by capturing injected carriers. The effect of GaAs laser irradiation on InGaN laser action demonstrates that the traps responsible for the delay are deep centres which can be filled by the photo-assisted processes.

Comparison of two kinds of active layers for high-power narrow-stripe distributed feedback laser diodes

Usually GaAs/AlGaAs is utilized as an active layer material in laser diodes operating in the spectral range of 800- 850 nm. In this work, in addition to a traditional unstrained GaAs/AlGaAs distributed feedback （DFB） laser diode, a compressively strained InGaAlAs/AlGaAs DFB laser diode is numerically investigated in characteristic. The simulation results show that the compressively strained DFB laser diode has a lower transparency carrier density, higher gain, lower Auger recombination rate, and higher stimulated recombination rate, which lead to better a device performance, than the traditional unstrained GaAs/AlGaAs DFB laser diode.