The Processing and Evaluation of Long Lived GaA1As Channeled Substrate Planar Lasers

Abstract

<p> The theory of operation and advantages of a channeled substrate planar (CSP) laser is described. The processing of such devices utilizing 5 N m wide proton bombardment defined current stripes is detailed. The optical and electrical characteristics of the resultant devices is presented. The lasers had pulsed, room temperature thresholds averaging 90mA, lased predominantly in a single longitudinal mode and were kink-free to power levels in excess of 6mW. Accelerated aging yielded an "activation energy" for the degradation process of 0.7eV which allowed for a predicted useful lifetime of 5 x 10^4 hours for these lasers. </p>