II-VI LASER DIODE WITH FACET DEGRADATION REDUCTION STRUCTURE

摘要

A II-VI SEMICONDUCTOR LASER DIODE (10) HAVING A SEMICONDUCTOR BODY COMPRISING A PLURALITY OF SEMICONDUCTOR LAYERS FORMING A PN JUNCTION, A FACET (34) AT ONE END OF THE BODY, AND A REFERENCE ELECTRODE (32). THE LASER DIODE FURTHER INCLUDES A FACET DEGRADATION REDUCTION ELECTRODE (50) LOCATED ADJACENT TO THE FACET. THE FACET DEGRADATION REDUCTION ELECTRODE IS ELECTRICALLY ISOLATED FROM A FORWARD BIAS ELECTRODE (40). THE FACET DEGRADATION REDUCTION ELECTRODE IS USED TO ESTABLISH AN ELECTRIC FIELD SUFFICIENT TO REDUCE FACET DEGRADATION. IN ONE EMBODIMENT, THIS ELECTRIC FIELD IS ESTABLISHED BY APPLYING A REVERSE-BIAS VOLTAGE BETWEEN THE FACET ELECTRODE AND THE REFERENCE ELECTRODE. IN ANOTHER EMBODIMENT, THIS ELECTRIC FIELD IS ESTABLISHED BY ELECTRICALLY CONNECTING THE FACET ELECTRODE TO THE REFERENCE ELECTRODE .