Lifetimes of 800nm-Wavelength GaAlAs Semiconductor Lasers

This is the first report on the lifetimes of 800nm-wavelength GaAlAs semiconductor lasers which have recently been put into mass production. The experimetal analysis are described of influences of various factors on the lifetime such as diode temperature, thermal reistance, wavelength, facet coating, surge current and electrostatic discharge. The result of this study has shown that a extrapolated mean lifetime for 800nm/ 2.5mW GaAlAs lasers at room temperature is as long as 11.5 years.