Performance improvement of high-power AlGaAs lasers

Structure optimization of high-power 780 nm AlGaAs laser diodes (LDs) is made by engineering the distribution and the density of deep-level defects in their active and cladding layers. One of the optimized LDs shows a typical threshold current of 35 mA, maximum output power of 385 mW in pulsed mode, an internal quantum efficiency of 89.9%, an internal loss of 3.38 cm ^-1 and a characteristic temperature of 153 K. In addition, stable continuous-wave (CW) operation is observed during screen test with little degradation for more than 10 hrs. at 100 mW and 70°C. These results indicate that defect engineering for individual layers of the LD structure is quite effective in improving the performance and reliability of high-power LDs.