Optical properties of a GaAlAs superluminescent diode

Abstract

The optical properties of a GaAlAs superluminescent diode (SLD) are described. The spectra of this device exhibit a large number of longitudinal modes. The coupling efficiency into a 0.23 NA 50 μm diameter graded index fiber is ∼ 30 percent. The current required for constant light output at a temperature <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">T</tex> can be written as <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">I(T) \sim I_{0} \cdot \exp (T/T_{2})</tex> where <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">T_{2} \sim 120</tex> K. A model of the SLD is described.