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    High-power diode lasers with in-situ-structured lateral current blocking for improved threshold, efficiency and brightness
    (Bristol : IoP Publ., 2022) Elattar, M.; Brox, O.; Della Casa, P.; Mogilatenko, A.; Maaßdorf, A.; Martin, D.; Wenzel, H.; Knigge, A.; Weyers, M.; Crump, P.
    We present high-power GaAs-based broad-area diode lasers with a novel variant of the enhanced self-aligned lateral structure ‘eSAS’, having a strongly reduced lasing threshold and improved peak conversion efficiency and beam quality in comparison to their standard gain-guided counterparts. To realize this new variant (eSAS-V2), a two-step epitaxial growth process involving in situ etching is used to integrate current-blocking layers, optimized for tunnel current suppression, within the p-Al0.8GaAs cladding layer of an extreme-triple-asymmetric epitaxial structure with a thin p-side waveguide. The blocking layers are thus in close proximity to the active zone, resulting in strong suppression of current spreading and lateral carrier accumulation. eSAS-V2 devices with 4 mm resonator length and varying stripe widths are characterized and compared to previous eSAS variant (eSAS-V1) as well as gain-guided reference devices, all having the same dimensions and epitaxial structure. Measurement results show that the new eSAS-V2 variant eliminates an estimated 89% of lateral current spreading, resulting in a strong threshold current reduction of 29% at 90 μm stripe width, while slope and series resistance are broadly unchanged. The novel eSAS-V2 devices also maintain high conversion efficiency up to high continuous-wave optical power, with an exemplary 90 μm device having 51.5% at 20 W. Near-field width is significantly narrowed in both eSAS variants, but eSAS-V2 exhibits a wider far-field angle, consistent with the presence of index guiding. Nonetheless, eSAS-V2 achieves higher beam quality and lateral brightness than gain-guided reference devices, but the index guiding in this realization prevents it from surpassing eSAS-V1. Overall, the different performance benefits of the eSAS approach are clearly demonstrated.
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    Spectral linewidth vs. Front facet reflectivity of 780 nm DFB diode lasers at high optical output power
    (Basel : MDPI AG, 2018) Nguyen, T.-P.; Wenzel, H.; Brox, O.; Bugge, F.; Ressel, P.; Schiemangk, M.; Wicht, A.; Tien, T.Q.; Tränkle, G.
    The influence of the front facet reflectivity on the spectral linewidth of high power DFB (distributed feedback) diode lasers emitting at 780 nm has been investigated theoretically and experimentally. Characterization of lasers at various front facet reflections showed substantial reduction of the linewidth. This behavior is in reasonable agreement with simulation results. A minimum linewidth of 8 kHz was achieved at an output power of 85 mW with the laser featuring a front facet reflectivity of 30%. The device with a front facet reflectivity of 5% reached the same linewidth value at an output power of 290 mW.
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    High-brightness broad-area diode lasers with enhanced self-aligned lateral structure
    (Bristol : IOP Publ., 2020) Elatta, M.; Brox, O.; Della Casa, P.; Maaßdorf, A.; Martin, D.; Wenzel, H.; Knigge, A.; Crump, P.
    Broad-area diode lasers with increased brightness and efficiency are presented, which are fabricated using an enhanced self-aligned lateral structure by means of a two-step epitaxial growth process with an intermediate etching step. In this structure, current-blocking layers in the device edges ensure current confinement under the central stripe, which can limit the detrimental effects of current spreading and lateral carrier accumulation on beam quality. It also minimizes losses at stripe edges, thus lowering the lasing threshold and increasing conversion efficiency, while maintaining high polarization purity. In the first realization of this structure, the current block is integrated within an extreme-triple-asymmetric epitaxial design with a thin p-doped side, meaning that the distance between the current block and the active zone can be minimized without added process complexity. Using this configuration, enhanced self-aligned structure devices with 90 µm stripe width and 4 mm resonator length show up to 20% lower threshold current, 21% narrower beam waist, and slightly higher (1.03 ) peak efficiency in comparison to reference devices with the same dimensions, while slope, divergence angle and polarization purity remain almost unchanged. These results correspond to an increase in brightness by up to 25%, and measurement results of devices with varying stripe widths follow the same trend. © 2020 The Author(s). Published by IOP Publishing Ltd.