Research on failure mechanism of high-power tapered semiconductor laser

Tapered semiconductor lasers are widely used in space communication due to their high output power and high beam quality. The tapered semiconductor laser structure mainly consists of ridge region, absorption region and tapered region. The tapered semiconductor laser is analyzed by characterization methods such as EMMI, EDS and FIB-SEM in this paper. It is found that the waveguide damage in the ridge region is caused by the enhancement of the local optical power density in the ridge waveguide, and there are failure points inside the waveguide and the sidewall of the device, resulting in photon leakage. The closer to the optical cavity surface, the more holes between the solder and the electrodes, and the presence of oxygen elements near the optical cavity surface, indicating that the interface holes existing in the optical cavity surface would lead to the migration of oxygen elements. The research results reveal that the enhancement of local power density in the ridge waveguide is caused by the optical feedback process. The main failure mechanisms of the device contain the solder holes and the enhancement of local power density, which provide an important reference for the process optimization of high-power tapered semiconductor lasers.