High-Power Operation of ZnSe-Based cw-Laser Diodes

In this paper we investigate the characteristics of ZnSe-based cw-laser diodes under high current injection in cw- and pulsed mode. The maximum output power is 75 mW in cw-mode and 294 mW in pulsed mode. From the shift of the emission wavelength between the two modes a temperature change of the active region of 9 K is calculated. An increase of the operating current up to twice the threshold current raises the temperature only about 20 K. Still, when operated with moderate output powers, the devices degrade via the accumulation of heat. However, at high output powers we found that a catastrophic optical damage process is responsible for device failure. This has not been reported in literature before for ZnSe-based laser diodes.