CW high power single-lobed far-field operation of long-cavity AlGaAs-GaAs single-quantum-well laser diodes grown by MOCVD

Data on long-cavity 100-μm-wide broad-stripe laser diodes that lase with a barrow single-lobed far-field pattern in continuous room-temperature operation are presented. Diodes with a cavity length of 1250 μm emit a power of 200 mW per facet into a 2.5° lobe (full width at half maximum). Short-cavity devices (cavity length of 350 μm) lase with a continuously increasing number of lateral modes right from threshold, and exhibit a far-field divergence that is over three times greater than that of 1250-μm diodes. Explanations for the effect of increasing cavity length on the field patterns of these devices are proposed, based on the measured increase in injected carrier diffusion length in long-cavity diodes and the influence of thermal waveguiding and mirror losses on intermodel discrimination