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An experimental technique for measuring internal optical loss in high-power edge-emitting semiconductor lasers is demonstrated. The technique is based on coupling a probe beam into the waveguide of a pulse-pumped laser diode. It allows measuring free-carrier absorption (FCA) in a laser heterostructure at different temperatures and at pump current levels up to 30 kA/cm2. Measurement results are presented for two laser heterostructure designs, which vary in the waveguide doping level and material. For both heterostructures, the pump current increase induces a significant rise in FCA and a corresponding increase in internal optical loss, from 0.4–0.7 cm−1 at the threshold current to 2–2.5 cm−1 at 15 kA/cm2. At higher temperatures, the dependence is even stronger and the internal optical loss rises to 6 cm−1 (65 °C, 27 kA/cm2). The gradient of the FCA current dependence is lower for the laser heterostructure with a doped GaAs waveguide, while the heterostructure with an undoped AlGaAs waveguide displays a larger increase in FCA but better internal quantum efficiency at high currents. These results show that the proposed experimental method has significant potential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have examined the two-state operation process of the high-power edge-emitting lasers based on AlGaAs/InGaAs/GaAs heterostructure with a thick (90Å) quantum well in the active region. It has been demonstrated that the laser emission spectrum can be switched between spectral lines corresponding to different optical transitions between the quantum states in the active region. The switching process is governed either by pump current or by temperature. The dynamic characteristics of the switching laser pumped with 100 ns current pulses have been investigated and explained. It has been shown that the current density dependence of internal optical loss can cause the currentinitiated switching. The temperature impact is much more important and consists in the charge carrier redistribution in the quantum well. The registered optical power near the switching point was near 2W in continuous wave and 15W in pulse mode of operation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We continue the comparative studies of high-power AlGaAs/InGaAs/GaAs semiconductor lasers with different waveguide designs. In this work, measurements were carried out for a continuous-wave mode of operation: lightâ€"current and currentâ€"voltage characteristics, threshold characteristics and their temperature dependences and crystal temperature depending on the pump current. The data obtained made it possible to reconstruct the dependences of internal optical losses and internal quantum efficiency using calculations. It was shown that the main factor affecting the power characteristics in the continuous mode of operation is the temperature stability of the laser and its relationship with internal optical losses and internal quantum efficiency. Thus, lasers based on a heterostructure with a doped GaAs waveguide with characteristic temperatures T 0 and T 1 of 120 K and 170 K, respectively, demonstrated an increase in internal optical losses to 2 cmâˆ'1 and a drop in the quantum efficiency to 90%, which led to saturation of the output power by high pump currents. Lasers based on the heterostructure with an AlGaAs waveguide, which are characterized by higher temperature stability (T 0 = 161 K and T 1 = 280 K), had lower internal optical losses and a higher quantum efficiency. This made it possible to obtain optical power 1 W higher than that for lasers with GaAs waveguides. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pulse-pumped MOVPE-fabricated (metal-organic vapor-phase epitaxy) semiconductor lasers emitting in the spectral ranges 1000-1100 and 1400-1600 nm at temperatures of 110-120 K are studied. It is found that cooling the lasers for both spectral ranges to low temperature results in their light-current curves approaching linearity, and an optical power of, respectively, 110 and 20 W can be attained. The low-temperature effect is reduced for lasers emitting in the spectral range 1400-1600 nm. The processes affecting a rise in the internal optical loss in semiconductor lasers are considered. It is shown that an increase in the carrier concentration in the waveguide of a laser structure greatly depends on temperature and is determined by the noninstantaneous capture (capture rate) of carriers from the waveguide into the active region. It is demonstrated that, upon lowering the temperature to 115K, the concentration of electrons and holes in the waveguide becomes lower, which leads to a significant decrease in the internal optical loss and to an increase in the output optical power of the semiconductor laser. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Semiconductor lasers based on MOCVD-grown AlGaInAs/InP separate-confinement heterostructures are studied. It is shown that raising only the energy-gap width of AlGaInAs-waveguides without the introduction of additional barriers results in more pronounced current leakage into the cladding layers. It is found that the introduction of additional barrier layers at the waveguide-cladding-layer interface blocks current leakage into the cladding layers, but results in an increase in the internal optical loss with increasing pump current. It is experimentally demonstrated that the introduction of blocking layers makes it possible to obtain maximum values of the internal quantum efficiency of stimulated emission (92%) and continuouswave output optical power (3.2 W) in semiconductor lasers in the eye-safe wavelength range (1400-1600 nm). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The temperature dependences of the threshold current density and threshold concentration in semiconductor lasers based on MOVPE-grown asymmetric separate-confinement heterostructures with an extended waveguide have been studied (wavelengths λ = 1050-1070). It is shown that the temperature dependence of the threshold current density in semiconductor lasers becomes markedly stronger at above-room temperatures, which is due to temperature-induced carrier delocalization into the waveguide layers of a laser heterostructure. It was found that the sharp decrease in the thermal stability of the threshold current density with increasing temperature correlates with the coincidence of the Fermi level with the conduction-band bottom of the waveguide layer in the laser heterostructure. It is experimentally demonstrated that an increase in the energy depth and number of quantum wells in the active region of a semiconductor laser improves the thermal stability of the threshold current density. It is demonstrated that the characteristic parameter T attains a value of 220 K in the temperature range from −20 to +70°C. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The temperature dependences of the emission characteristics of semiconductor lasers based on MOVPE-grown asymmetric separate-confinement heterostructures (wavelengths λ = 1010-1070 nm) have been studied. It was found that, in the continuous-wave mode, the main mechanism of 'saturation' of the light-current characteristic with increasing temperature of the active region is carrier delocalization into the waveguide layer. It was experimentally demonstrated that the thermal delocalization of carriers depends on the energy depth of the quantum well (QW) in the active region. It is shown that the minimum internal optical loss at 140°C is obtained in laser structures with the largest energy depth of the QW of the active region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The process of charge carrier delocalization in high-power semiconductor lasers is examined under high current, pulse-pumped operation conditions. It is established that the carrier delocalization process is mostly determined by the injection of electrons (rather than holes) into the waveguide. Two methods of suppression of carrier delocalization are experimentally demonstrated, which are based on increasing the waveguide bandgap width and on using the waveguide containing a potential energy barrier for electrons in the p-region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]