654 nm broad area lasers for QCW operation with a maximal facet load of 76 mW/μm

Abstract

Compared to diode lasers emitting in the near infrared, the development of high power diode lasers in the red spectral range is more challenging due to the applicable compound semiconductors, the limited stability of the laser facets, and the small barrier heights for electrons and holes. For CW applications, their mounting requires excellent heat removal or expansion matched submounts. For QCW operation with small duty cycles and about 2 W per 100 μm stripe width emitter, like for the pumping of Q-switched alexandrite (Cr 3+ :BeAl 2 O 4 ) lasers at 654 nm, a compromise is the application of aluminum nitride as heat sink. The presented broad area (BA) lasers are based on a GaInP single quantum well embedded in AlGaInP waveguide layers. The structure provides a vertical far field angle of 31° (FWHM). The material data can be compiled as follows: transparency current density j T = 220 A/cm 2 , internal efficiency ƞ i = 0.83, internal losses α i = 1.0 cm -1 . BA lasers with a stripe width of 100 μm and a length of 1.5 mm were fabricated, facet coated including a passivation procedure, and mounted on AlN submounts. In QCW operation (100 μs, 35 Hz) at 15°C, the devices had threshold currents of about 600 mA, slope efficiencies up to 1.3 W/A and conversion efficiencies of 0.36. A maximal output of 6.3 W was measured. At lower temperatures of -10°C the maximal peak power was determined to 7.6 W, i.e. a facet load of 76 mW/μm. The devices showed reliable operation over 1,000 h at a peak power of 2.7 W.