AlGaInN high power lasers

Summary form only given. AlGaInN high power laser diodes (LDs) were fabricated on a thin epitaxially laterally overgrown GaN (ELO-GaN) substrate. The LD characteristics were improved by using this ELO-GaN substrate. This is because ELO-GaN is quite effective in reducing dislocation density and in forming good cleaved facets. We have improved the characteristics by optimizing the parameters of the ridge stripe; ridge width and the distance between active layer and etched surface adjacent the ridge. We have also improved kink level by introducing a novel ridge stripe structure. The kink level of more than 80 mW was realized by the novel ridge structure. This value is considerably higher by about 30 mW higher than a conventional ridge structure. Consequently, lifetimes of LDs have exceeded 1000 h under 30 mW operation at 60 /spl deg/C.