Optical confinement in (AlGa)InP visible emitting laser diodes

Measurement of the far-field pattern of bulk and quantum well GaInP lasers have been used to determine optical confinement factor for individual laser diodes under operating conditions. Using the experimentally determined far-field pattern to find the optical confinement factor has been shown to be a useful tool where there is uncertainty in the refractive index and composition data for laser diodes. Another advantage of this method over theoretical calculations is that the optical confinement factor is determined for individual lasers under operating conditions, hence the effects of temperature and carrier injection on the refractive index are automatically taken into account