Reliability of InAlGaAs strained-quantum-well lasers operating at 0.81 mu m

Preliminary reliability studies of strained In/sub 0.15/Al/sub 0.13/Ga/sub 0.72/As quantum-well lasers operating at 0.81 mu m are reported. InAlGaAs lasers, a possible replacement for AlGaAs lasers, have been studied with respect to three failure mechanisms. Uncoated In/sub 0.15/Al/sub 0.13/Ga/sub 0.72/As quantum-well lasers have exhibited catastrophic optical damage limits of 1.87 MW/cm/sup 2/, which is equal to that of similar AlGaAs lasers. Further, the lasers are both free of <100> DLD-induced sudden failures and exhibit low degradation rates even in this early stage of their development.<<ETX>>