Continuously operated (Al,Ga)As double-heterostructure lasers with 70 °C lifetimes as long as two years

Lifetimes longer than two years, and decreases in light output power less than 15% at constant current after one year, both at 70 °C, are reported for selected continuously operated double-heterostructure (Al,Ga)As lasers. Also, a median 70 °C lasing lifetime of 4500 h is reported for 100 lasers chosen randomly from 10 slices. This median lifetime is thought to correspond to 3.0×105 h (34 yr) of continuous operation had the devices been operated at 22 °C. The corresponding mean time to failure is 1.3×106 h (≳100 yr).