Thermal analysis of GaN-based laser diode mini-array

Thermal characteristics of multiple laser stripes integrated into one chip is investigated theoretically in this paper. The temperature pattern of the laser diode mini-array packaged in a TO-can is analyzed and optimized to achieve a uniform temperature distribution among the laser stripes and along the cavity direction. The temperature among the laser stripes varies by more than 5 K if the stripes are equally arranged, and can be reduced to less than 0.4 K if proper arrangement is designed. For conventional submount structure, the temperature variation along the cavity direction is as high as 7 K, while for an optimized trapezoid submount structure, the temperature varies only within 0.5 K.

GaN-based blue laser diode with 6.0 W of output power under continuous-wave operation at room temperature

In this work,we reported the room-temperature continuous-wave operation of 6.0 W GaN-based blue laser diode(LD),and its stimulated emission wavelength is around 442 nm.The GaN-based high power blue LD is grown on a c-plane GaN substrate by metal organic chemical vapor deposition(MOCVD),and the width and length of the ridge waveguide structure are 30 and 1200μm,respectively.The threshold current is about 400 mA,and corresponding threshold current density is 1.1 kA/cm2.

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.

A 15 Gbps-NRZ, 30 Gbps-PAM4, 120 mA laser diode driver implemented in 0.15-μm GaAs E-mode pHEMT technology

This paper presents the design and testing of a 15 Gbps non-return-to-zero(NRZ),30 Gbps 4-level pulse amplitude modulation(PAM4)configurable laser diode driver(LDD)implemented in 0.15-μm GaAs E-mode pHEMT technology.The driver bandwidth is enhanced by utilizing cross-coupled neutralization capacitors across the output stage.The output transmission-line back-termination,which absorbs signal reflections from the imperfectly matched load,is performed passively with on-chip 50-Ωresistors.The proposed 30 Gbps PAM4 LDD is implemented by combining two 15 Gbps-NRZ LDDs,as the high and low amplification paths,to generate PAM4 output current signal with levels of 0,40,80,and 120 mA when driving 25-Ωlasers.The high and low amplification paths can be used separately or simultaneously as a 15 Gbps-NRZ LDD.The measurement results show clear output eye diagrams at speeds of up to 15 and 30 Gbps for the NRZ and PAM4 drivers,respectively.At a maximum output current of 120 mA,the driver consumes 1.228 W from a single supply voltage of-5.2 V.The proposed driver shows a high current driving capability with a better output power to power dissipation ratio,which makes it suitable for driving high current distributed feedback(DFB)lasers.The chip occupies a total area of 0.7×1.3 mm^(2).

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.

Low-cost photoacoustic imaging systems based on laser diode and light-emitting diode excitation

Photoacoustic imaging,an emerging biomedical imaging modality,holds great promise for preclinical and clinical researches.It combines the high optical contrast and high ultrasound resolution by converting laser excitation into ultrasonic emission.In order to generate photoacoustic signal e±-ciently,bulky Q-switched solid-state laser systems are most commonly used as excitation sources and hence limit its commercialization.As an alternative,the miniaturized semiconductor laser system has the advantages of being inexpensive,compact,and robust,which makes a signi¯cant e®ect on production-forming design.It is also desirable to obtain a wavelength in a wide range from visible to nearinfrared spectrum for multispectral applications.Focussing on practical aspect,this paper reviews the state-of-the-art developments of low-cost photoacoustic system with laser diode and light-emitting diode excitation source and highlights a few representative installations in the past decade.

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.

Tunable Single-Passband Microwave Photonic Filter Based on Sagnac Loop and Fabry-Perot Laser Diode

A tunable single-passband microwave photonic filter is proposed and demonstrated, based on a laser diode (LD) array with multiple optical carriers and a Fabry-Perot (F-P) laser diode. Multiple optical carriers in conjunction with the F-P LD will realize a filter with multiple passbands. By adjusting the wavelengths of the multiple optical carriers, multiple passbands are merged into a single passband with a broadened bandwidth. By varying the number of the optical carrier, the bandwidth can be adjusted. The central frequency can be tuned by adjusting the wavelength of the multiple optical carriers simultaneously. A single-passband filter implemented by two optical carriers is experimentally demonstrated.

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.

Modelling and optical response of a compressive-strained AlGaN/GaN quantum well laser diode

The effects of the quantum well(QW)width,carrier density,and aluminium(Al)concentration in the barrier layers on the optical characteristics of a gallium nitride(GaN)-based QW laser diode are investigated by means of a careful modelling analysis in a wide range of temperatures.The device’s optical gain is calculated by using two different band energy models.The first is based on the simple band-to-band model that accounts for carrier transitions between the first levels of the conduction band and valence band,whereas the second assumes the perturbation theory(k.p model)for considering the valence intersubband transitions and the relative absorption losses in the QW.The results reveal that the optical gain increases with increasing the n-type doping density as well as the Al molar fraction of the AlxGa1–xN layers,which originate the GaN compressivestrained QW.In particular,a significant optical gain on the order of 5000 cm^-1 is calculated for a QW width of 40A at room temperature.In addition,the laser threshold current density is of few tens of A/cm^2 at low temperatures.

Effects of a prestrained InGaN interlayer on the emission properties of InGaN/GaN multiple quantum wells in a laser diode structure

The electroluminescence （EL） and photoluminescence （PL） spectra of InGaN/GaN multiple quantum wells （MQWs） with a prestrained InGaN interlayer in a laser diode structure are investigated. When the injection current increases from 5 mA to 50 mA, the blueshift of the EL emission peak is 1 meV for the prestrained sample and 23 meV for a control sample with the conventional structure. Also, the internal quantum efficiency and the EL intensity at the injection current of 20 mA are increased by 71% and 65% respectively by inserting the prestrained InGaN interlayer. The reduced blueshift and the enhanced emission are attributed mainly to the reduced quantum-confined Stark effect （QCSE） in the prestrained sample. Such attributions are supported by the theoretical simulation results, which reveal the smaller piezoelectric field and the enhanced overlap of electron and hole wave functions in the prestrained sample. Therefore, the prestrained InGaN interlayer contributes to strain relaxation in the MQW layer and enhancement of light emission due to the reduction of QCSE.

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.

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.

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.

GaN-based violet laser diodes grown on free-standing GaN substrate

A violet laser diode （LD） structure is grown on a free-standing c-plane GaN substrate and 4 μm×800μm ridge waveguide LDs are fabricated. The electrical and the optical characteristics of LDs under different facet-coating and chip-mounting conditions are investigated under pulse mode operation. The active region temperatures of p-side up and p-side down mounted LDs are calculated with different injection currents. The calculated thermal resistances of p-side up and p-side down mounted LDs are 4.6 K/W and 3 K/W, respectively. The threshold current of the p-side down mounted LD is much lower than that of the p-side up mounted LD. The blue shift of the emission wavelength with increasing injection current is observed only for the LD with p-side down mounting configuration, due to the more efficient heat dissipation.

High-speed high-resolution laser diode-based photoacoustic microscopy for in vivo microvasculature imaging

Laser diodes(LDs)have been considered as cost-effective and compact excitation sources to overcome the requirement of costly and bulky pulsed laser sources that are commonly used in photoacoustic microscopy(PAM).However,the spatial resolution and/or imaging speed of previously reported LD-based PAM systems have not been optimized simultaneously.In this paper,we developed a high-speed and high-resolution LD-based PAM system using a continuous wave LD,operating at a pulsed mode,with a repetition rate of 30 kHz,as an excitation source.A hybrid scanning mechanism that synchronizes a one-dimensional galvanometer mirror and a two-dimensional motorized stage is applied to achieve a fast imaging capability without signal averaging due to the high signal-to-noise ratio.By optimizing the optical system,a high lateral resolution of 4.8μm has been achieved.In vivo microvasculature imaging of a mouse ear has been demonstrated to show the high performance of our LD-based PAM system.

A power and wavelength detuning-dependent hysteresis loop in a single mode Fabry-Prot laser diode

In this paper, we observe experimentally the optical bistability induced by the side-mode injection power and wave- length detuning in a single mode Fabry-P6rot laser diode （SMFP-LD）. Results show that the bistability characteristics of the dominant and injected modes are strongly dependent on the injected input optical power and wavelength detuning in an SMFP-LD. We observe three types of hysteresis loops： counterclockwise, clockwise, and butterfly hysteresis with various loop widths. In the case of a bistability loop caused by injection power, the transition from counterclockwise to clockwise in the hysteresis direction with the wavelength detuning from 0.028 nm to 0.112 nm is observed in a way of butterfly hys- teresis for the dominant mode by increasing the wavelength detuning. The width of hysteresis loop, induced by wavelength detuning is also changed while the injection power is enhanced from -7 dBm to -5 dBm.

Measurement and Characterization of Microwave Interaction between Integrated Distributed Feedback Laser Diode and Electro-Absorption Modulator

Integrated electro-absorption-modulated distributed feedback laser diodes(EMLs)are attracting much interest in optical communications for the advantages of a compact structure,low power consumption,and high-speed modulation.In integrated EML,the microwave interaction between the distributed feedback laser diode(DFB-LD)and the electro-absorption modulator(EAM)has a nonnegligible influence on the modulation performance,especially at the high-frequency region.In this paper,integrated EML was investigated as a three-port network with two electrical inputs and a single optical output,where the scattering matrix of the integrated device was theoretically deduced and experimentally measured.Based on the theoretical model and the measured data,the microwave equivalent circuit model of the integrated device was established,from which the microwave interaction between DFB-LD and EAM was successfully extracted.The results reveal that the microwave interaction within integrated EML contains both the electrical isolation and optical coupling.The electrical isolation is bidirectional while the optical coupling is directional,which aggravates the microwave interaction in the direction from DFB-LD to EAM.

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.