A compact, low-cost semiconductor laser diode producing 40 ps full width at half maximum (FWHM) single-spike lasing pulses with 6 Watts peak power from a 20 μm stripe width is realized in the form of a simple single-heterostructure, grown by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition. The structure possesses a linearly graded doping profile extending from the p+ and n+ sides towards the p-n junction. This laser diode is operated under room temperature conditions and applies pumping current pulses (roughly 10 to 20 A/2 to 3 ns FWHM) achievable with a commercially available silicon avalanche transistor as an electrical switch.
KEYWORDS: Semiconductor lasers, Picosecond phenomena, Q switches, Doping, Diodes, Q switched lasers, Near field optics, High power lasers, Near field, Waveguides
The recently demonstrated high-power (50W from a 20μm stripe) picosecond (30ps) lasing from a laser diode has led us
to address the internal Q-switching phenomenon, discovered four decades ago and not yet fully understood. We found
that the realization of a nanosecond or picosecond mode in a diode depends on the doping profile across the structure.
Current-pumped picosecond-range laser diodes with a peak power significantly exceeding that achievable from gainswitched
lasers are of major interest for a large variety of commercial applications. A group of phenomena have been
explored in which the peak transient gain is efficiently controlled by a fast reduction in the pumping current. Common to
all these phenomena is the fact that the peak powers of the emitted picosecond optical pulses (15-100 ps) exceed that
obtainable from gain-switched laser diodes by at least an order of magnitude, although the physical reasons for the high
gain and the design principles of the semiconductor structures are different. The main problem in the realization of these
picosecond modes in low-cost practical systems is the high sensitivity of the operation regime to structural and circuit
parameters. A related problem is the questionable reproducibility of the fabrication processes used so far. Proper
development of reliable high-power picosecond transmitters will require the use of more advanced fabrication methods
and further study of the effect of structural parameters on the properties of the picosecond lasing mode. In this paper we
report on a record value for the power density of the picosecond lasing (50W / 30ps) obtained from a laser diode chip of
width 20 &mgr;m and give a qualitative interpretation of the operating mode. Use of the MOCVD process for diode
fabrication should allow reproducible technology for picosecond laser diodes to be developed.
A number of up-to-date applications, including advanced optical radars with high single-shot resolution, precise 3 D imaging, laser tomography, time imaging spectroscopy, etc., require low-cost, compact, reliable sources enabling the generation of high-power (1-100 W) single optical pulses in the picosecond range. The well-known technique of using the gain-switching operation mode of laser diodes to generate single picosecond pulses in the mW range fails to generate high-power single picosecond pulses because of a lack of high-current switches operating in the picosecond range. We
report here on the achieving of optical pulses of 45W / 70ps, or alternatively 5W / 40ps, with gain-switched commercial quantum well (QW) laser diodes having emitting areas of 250 × 200 μm and 75 × 2 μm, respectively. This was made possible by the use of a novel high-current avalanche switch based on a GaAs bipolar junction transistor (BJT) structure with a switching time (<200ps) comparable to the lasing delay. (The extremely fast transient in this switch is caused by the generation and spread of a comb of powerfully avalanching Gunn domains of ultra-high amplitude in the transistor structure.) A simulation code developed earlier but modified and carefully verified here allowed detailed comparison of the experimental and simulated laser responses and the transient spectrum.
Ultrafast (picosecond range) switching of a GaAs-based BJT (bipolar junction transistor) in the avalanche mode has recently been demonstrated experimentally. It was found to be caused by the formation and spread of ultra-high amplitude multiple Gunn domains, which cause extremely powerful avalanching in the volume of the switching filaments. Unavoidable parasitic impedance of an external circuit limits the rate of avalanche carrier generation in the channels, however, which slows down the switching and increases the residual voltage across the switch. We present here the results of simulations which show that the switching transient can be significantly accelerated and the residual voltage reduced due to the supporting of a higher current density in the channels by the charge stored in the barrier capacitance of the non-switched part of the structure. The corresponding circuital currents are confined in low-inductance loops inside the structure and are not critically affected by the parameters of the external circuit. This provides very fast and effective reduction in the collector voltage, provided the parameters of the semiconductor layers and the geometry of the device are selected properly. Particularly significant in this process is the effect of circuital current saturation in the lightly doped collector region of the non-switched part of the transistor. The results of the simulations with the barrier capacitance included in the model are in excellent agreement with the experimental data.
Picosecond-range single optical pulses with peak power in the range 10-100 W are fairly attractive for various practical applications. A laser diode structure has lately been suggested which produces powerful (~ 50 W) picosecond (~20 ps) optical pulses near the trailing edge of the current pulse by means of field-assisted gain control. Lasing onset is delayed in this diode by a few nanoseconds due to intendance-reduced pumping efficiency caused by the implementation of internal optical pumping. The ps operating mode is based on a compromise between the dynamics of carrier accumulation and of the transverse electric field, controlled by the efficiency of the internal optical pumping. The pumping efficiency is determined to a large extent by competition between stimulated and spontaneous radiative recombination at the source of optical pumping. An effect of the laser diode switching from the picosecond to the quasi-steady-state (ns) mode was observed when the length of the laser cavity was reduced from 400 μm to 200 μm. This phenomenon is studied and attributed to an increase in the fraction of spontaneous photons due to reduction in the density of the stimulated emission at the source of the optical pumping.
Superfast high current switching of a GaAs-based JBT in the avalanche mode has been achieved experimentally for the first time. A very fast reduction in the voltage across the transistor was observed (~ 200-300 ps) and the amplitude of the current pulses ranged from 2 to 130 A depending on the load resistance. It was observed experimentally that the switching occurs in a number of synchronized current channels with a characteristic diameter of <~10 microns. A 1D simulation code was developed and the switching transient for a single channel was simulated, with the external circuit incorporated into the simulations. Photon-assisted carrier transport and negative differential electron mobility were taken into account in the theoretical model. The former does not play an appreciable role in the 1D switching transient, although the latter determines superfast switching at extreme current densities (> 1 MA/cm2). Superfast switching occurs due to the appearance of a number of Gunn domains at any instant (up to ~ 20 domains across a collector region ~30 microns in thickness). These domains of huge amplitude (up to ~700 kV/cm) are moving towards the cathode and give rise to extremely high ionization rates across the volume of the channel in the n0 collector region. The simulations provide a fairly reliable interpretation of the experimentally observed switching time, which is shorter than that in Si avalanche transistors by a factor of ~15. The new device is fairly attractive, e.g. for feeding pulsed laser diodes when the current rise time should be shorter than the lasing delay.
High-precision laser radars and 3D vision systems with millimetre resolution require high-power picosecond optical pulses from laser diodes with direct current pumping in order to satisfy the requirements of low price, compactness and high reliability. A new laser diode capable of generating ~50 W / 20 ps optical pulses for such applications has been proposed recently, but one very important technical limitation for many industrial applications lies in its repetition rate, which is at present limited to ~ 50 kHz. This limitation originates from the heat dissipation in the Si-based, high-current nanosecond avalanche transistors used for laser pumping. It is shown in the paper, by using the 2D semiconductor device simulator, that the heat generation is powerfully localized in the avalanche transistor structure during the switching-on stage, but that in spite of this the associated thermal dynamics permits a higher maximum repetition rate than that observed experimentally. Moreover, smart designing of the semiconductor layers and construction of the heat sink should allow the limitation to exceed 1MHz. The lower limit observed so far in the experiments is caused by the stage of the voltage recovery across the transistor and may be softened by advanced circuit design.
A laser diode structure has lately been reported that is capable of generating high-power picosecond optical pulses (~ 50 W / 20 ps) in the near-infrared range for laser radars and other applications. The physical idea consists of achieving fast gain control through the effect of a transverse electric field on the carrier distribution across the active region, which controls the local gain and local absorption at each instant. The mechanism of field-assisted gain control, which has so far been formulated only as a qualitative idea, is justified in this work by simulations of the carrier transport and laser response using the semiconductor device simulator "Atlas" (Silvaco Inc.). A simplified approach is adopted which replaces photon-assisted carrier transport with carrier penetration over the lowered potential barrier. This points to reasonably good agreement between the experimental and simulation results for picosecond pulse generation, provided that the carrier mobilities are assumed to be higher than those in the heavily doped semiconductor structure by a factor of ~ 4. One important conclusion is that comprehensive modelling of the operation of the experimental laser diode is not possible without considering photon-assisted carrier transport, which has not been studied so far at very high carrier densities (exceeding the transparency concentration).
A double heterostructure (DH) laser has been developed and tested with the aim of achieving high-power picosecond optical pulses in the near-infrared range for use in advanced laser radars and other applications. The physical idea consists of achieving fast gain control by means of temporal evolution of the electric field in the active region. The gain is controlled by the variation in current due to transformation in the built-in electric field across the active region, provided that a high current density is used for pumping. This transformation broadens the carrier energy distribution in the active region, thus suppressing lasing until the current pulse stops. The resulting carrier accumulation causes an enlargement in the power of the short-pulsing Q-switching mode. One of the most important features of the laser structure is the placement of the electron injector well outside the two hetero-barriers forming the active region. Three transient lasing modes were observed simultaneously in this laser diode, with a maximum difference in wavelength as large as 60 nm. One of them, a 45 W/ 25 ps Q-switching mode which appears near the trailing edge of the current pulse, being spectrally separated from the other two. A significant further increase in the power of the Q-switching mode can be expected from an optimized laser structure with two parasitic modes completely suppressed. The new laser structure produces much more powerful picosecond pulses than are obtainable from gain-switched lasers and allows lasing wavelength control by means of bandgap engineering.
Great differences were found between the spectral and power responses for two modes of a single-heterostructure laser operation, with the dynamic behavior of each mode fitted to the traditional definition of the internal Q-switching phenomenon. The first mode is interpreted in terms of the most popular diffraction losses theory, while the other one is related to the practically important method of high-power picosecond optical pulse generation and interpreted in terms of a recent carrier heating and cooling model. This finding could obviate confusion in the interpretation of mechanisms of high-power picosecond pulse generation in the Q-switching mode.
A compact laser diode based transmitter was designed and tested for laser radar and various laboratory applications. Single optical pulses with a peak power of up to 200 W, 23 - 65 ps pulse duration and a repetition rate of up to 50 kHz were measured. Transient mode spectral filtering suppressed afterpulsing modes by a factor of 104 - 105 with respect to the peak power. A control module was developed which provided a jitter value between electrical triggering and the optical pulses as low as 14 ps. Averaging of 103 events allows 1.5 ps stability between the triggering and the optical pulses to be achieved within a delay range from 5 to 250 ns.
23 ps/200 W clear single optical pulses were achieved from a Q-switched commercial single heterostructure laser with a standard peak power of 5 W by means of spectral filtering of the transient mode together with optimal pumping conditions. These conditions were found by analysis of the transient spectrum dynamics. A high-power picosecond range optical pulse appears near the trailing range of the pumping current pulse under certain conditions. Its intensity is found to be determined mainly by the transient spectrum width, which in turn depends on the lattice temperature. An increase in the temperature causes both an optical pulse delay with respect to the trailing edge of the current pulse and significant spectrum narrowing. This behavior is ascribed to the effect of saturable absorption and carrier recombination in the heavily doped and compensated active region of the laser diode. A recently suggested model used to interpret the experimental data explains Q-switching behavior by considering tail-state absorption together with carrier heating and cooling in the active region. The difference between the Q-switching mode observed here and the traditional one caused by diffraction losses in the cavity is discussed.
A new time-of-flight-based imaging lidar was designed to carry out measurements in the 5 to 100-m range. The concept of the device, along with an illustration of the design of a time-to-digital converter for parallel time interval measurements and a presentation of our sensor breadboard is described. Test results showing sensor performance are also presented and discussed. This lidar can be used for shape and profile measurements in space and industrial applications.
Laser pulsing techniques utilizing gain switching and Q- switching operation modes of commercially available SH and DH laser diodes have been studied to realize powerful and fast laser pulses for industrial applications of pulsed time-of-flight laser range finding techniques. Pulses with the length of 100 ps to some nanoseconds and peak power level of 50 to 200 W have been aimed at. As an example, with a high speed current driver realized with a combination of an avalanche transistor matrix and a DSRD, an isolated pulse with a peak power level of 200 W and a pulse length of 100 ps was achieved from a DH laser diode operating under the gain switching region. Internal Q-switching mechanisms of SH laser diodes enable the lasers to achieve a pulse power of 100 W and a pulse width in the range of 100-200 ps.
Practical, compact time-of-flight (TOF) laser distance meters have been constructed for many industrial applications using a semiconductor laser as the light source. The optical pulse power of such devices has varied in the range of 1 to 30 W, rise times between 1 and 3 ns and pulse widths between 5 and 10 ns. The lasers have usually been DH lasers at low pulse powers (< 5 W) and SH lasers with 1 to 3 stripes at higher powers (5 - 30 W). A capacitor discharged by an avalanche transistor has been widely accepted as the pulser circuit for producing fast electric current pulses for lasers. Improvement of the timing resolution of the measurement result requires an increase in the slew-rate of the received light pulse or a decrease in the noise level. Use of a commercial non-pigtailed 1-stripe SH laser and a commercial power transistor in the avalanche operation mode yielded an optical pulse, the rise time of which was clearly less than 1 ns (rise time of the electric pulse was 3.5 ns). It was noticed in the tests that the rise time of the light pulse varied according to the measurement angle of the received light and the temperature of the laser. In order to obtain fast laser pulses it is necessary to control the temperature and the space angle in which the radiation is collected. There are also big differences in the shape of the optical pulse between different items of the same laser type and for this reason selection of the laser items is needed.
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