Electrical noise used to estimate the reliability of high-power semiconductor lasers

One of the most important technological challenges in the manufacture of high power lasers is to determine device quality and reliability without damaging the device itself. The low-frequency electrical noise has shown potential as a sensitive non-destructive indicator of device quality and reliability. In this paper, the noise levels in semiconductor lasers (LDs) operating in both unconducting state (Svl) and conducting state (Sv2) are measured. From our investigation, the device reliability is associated with not only Sv1 but also Sv2, if one of them is higher, the device is usually reliable. When the noise is used to estimate device reliability, both Sv1 and Sv2 should be measured and considered.