Power integrity of 980 nm pump lasers at 200 mW and above

The effect of the reduced back-mirror absorption and the feasibility of operation at 200 mW were studied by subjecting a large number of E2-type lasers to high-current and high-temperature stress tests. The devices used in the experimental work were standard 980 nm E2 lasers, molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) grown single quantum well AlGaAs/InGaAs lasers with a 4-μm wide ridge etched into the top p-cladding layer. Only a few random-failures were observed. Based on the results the cause of the device failures can be classified into distinctively different categories. Main categories are mirror-related defects and bulk-related defects.