InGaN Laser Diode Mini-Arrays

Abstract

We demonstrate the operation of high-power InGaN laser diode "mini-arrays" consisting of three or five stripes in a common p-contact configuration and compare the results with a single stripe emitter. We observed the following sequence of maximum output powers: 1.1 W for a single emitter, 2.5 W for a three emitter array, and 0.55 W for a five emitter array. The devices emitted light at 408–412 nm wavelength range. The most promising high-power laser diode design turned out to be a three stripe solution. The five stripe "mini-array" suffers from overheating, which causes the device to thermally roll-over at relatively low optical power. In addition to the high power operation, the three stripe device has good spectral characteristics accompanied by very reasonable differential efficiency making it a good candidate for ultra-high optical power systems like laser projectors.