Defect mechanisms in degradation of 1.3-μm wavelength channeled-substrate buried heterostructure lasers

Abstract

Channeled-substrate buried heterostructure (CSBH) lasers which were purged from populations undergoing high reliability qualification have been studied in detail. Gradual and rapid degradation mechanisms leading to accelerated aging failure modes have been analyzed by transmission electron microscopy, convergent beam electron diffraction, electroluminescence, energy dispersive x-ray analysis, and chemical etching. The gradual degradation mode of CSBH lasers is characterized by (1) a gradual increase in room-temperature threshold current; (2) a decrease in external quantum efficiency, typically a drop in peak value of dL/dI greater than 25%; (3) a drop in forward voltage at low current, indicating a change in junction characteristics; (4) a large peak in I(dV/dI) below threshold (at around 3 mA); and (5) an enhancement in the peak in I2(d2V/dI2) at laser threshold. A defect mechanism associated with the gradual degradation begins with a nucleation of extrinsic dislocation loops along the V-groove {111} p-n–type sidewall interfaces between the Cd-diffused p-InP and liquid-phase-epitaxial-grown n-InP buffer inside the groove. These dislocation loops subsequently grow out of the interfaces into the n-InP buffer region in the direction of minority-carrier injection, indicating a nonradiative recombination-assisted defect growth process. For those loops which enter the quaternary active region near the tip of the active crescent, the growth rate along the (001) and (010) planes is greatly enhanced and the loops eventually cut across the active stripe and become dark-line defects, as confirmed by electroluminescence. Nucleation of dislocation loops is not observed along the {111} p-p–type sidewall interfaces above the active stripe. The fact that the dislocation loops are all extrinsic in nature implies that the {111} sidewall interfaces as well as the quaternary active region contain a high density of interstitials. The possible causes for the generation and growth of the dislocation loops and the high density of point defects are discussed. The rapid degradation mode of the CSBH laser is characterized by a sudden drop in light intensity during the aging process. The associated defect mechanism starts with localized melting at the mirror facet or inside the lasing cavity. A metal-rich droplet subsequently forms which propagates along the center of the active stripe in the direction towards the cavity center via a meltback-regrowth process; i.e., material melts in front of the droplet and regrows after it propagates by. The nonideal condition of regrowth results in the formation of a wormlike defect composed of a cylinder of defective materials bounded by an off-stoichiometric interface. The wormlike defect is dark under electroluminescence. Complicated dislocation structures can also be grown from the wormlike defect under a nonradiative recombination-assisted defect growth process. These phenomena are presented and discussed.

Generic degradation mechanism for 980 nm InxGa1−xAs/GaAs strained quantum-well lasers

“…Since the melted region usually extends vertically beyond the well, it not only destroys the quantum-well structure, in addition, the resolidified material also contains extensive lattice defects. 15 Occasionally, such degradation modes also occur inside the active stripe ͑away from the mirrors͒ at strong nonradiative recombination defects. [15][16][17] On the other hand, if the localized heating does not reach the melting temperature of InGaAs, it is most likely that In out diffusion from the InGaAs well into the adjacent GaAs barriers will occur as driven by the compositional discontinuity at the interfaces.…”

“…Currently, one of the popular active structures for these devices uses a strained In x Ga 1Ϫx As/GaAs quantum well with xϳ0.2. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14] Although degradation of GaAs/AlGaAs, and InGaAsP/InP-based laser devices, has been studied extensively, [14][15][16][17] there are few studies of degradation of InGaAs/GaAs strained quantum-well lasers. [11][12][13] This study reports a generic degradation mechanism observed in 980 nm lasers, where In out diffusion ͑IOD͒ from the InGaAs quantum well into the GaAs barrier regions is observed.…”

Mechanisms and fast kinetics of the catastrophic optical damage (COD) in GaAs‐based diode lasers

“…There are reports addressing the possibility of multiple thermal runaways during pulsed operation [15,[82][83][84][85]. Up to now, this possibility has been discussed ex post only on the basis of results obtained by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) of devices that were mechanically opened after COD.…”

Failure mechanisms of high-temperature semiconductor lasers

“…(1,9). The velocity of the gliding motion has been shown to increase inversely with the bonding energy between atoms, and therefore, the bandgap energy.…”