The annealing of double-heterostructure GaInAsP-InP 1.3 mu m

An attempt to understand the various aging patterns discovered from lifetests on GaInAsP-InP laser diodes is reported. These lasers are characterized by initial changes that, after a short period, settle down. The lasers then operate stably with very little change thereafter. In the diodes used, drive current increases of typically 6% occurred. There was little change in threshold current and the changes seen were mainly due to a decrease in slope efficiency. In all cases, the changes decreased gradually after about 2000 h and reverted to the behavior expected of long-lived and reliable quaternary lasers. A model for the annealing of double-heterostructure laser diodes is extended to describe these effects.>