POWER-INDEPENDENT DEGRADATION OF HIGH-POWER GAALAS LASERS WITH NONABSORBING MIRRORS

The reliability of high-power single-mode GaAlAs lasers with nonabsorbing mirrors was investigated in detail. The lasers were tested at various output powers and temperatures. The results indicate that the degradation of the lasers is dependent not on the output power, but only on the operating current and temperature. The thermal activation energy of the degradation rate is estimated to be 0.85 eV, from which the lifetime under 100 mW operation at 25-degrees-C is expected to exceed 100 000 h.