Recent progress in semiconductor laser reliability and failure analysis

Quantitative analysis of spectra has proven helpful in many areas of science. However, the use of spectra in the semiconductor laser manufacturing environment has been limited to making pass/fail decisions based upon such parameters as the RMS spectral width or the presence/absence of multiple mode groups. Experimental evidence has recently shown that laser spectra can be used to infer the presence of internal defects or scattering centers. Such defects can adversely impact the laser reliability by making the laser more susceptible to degradation in accelerated aging or electrostatic discharge (ESD) stressing experiments. This paper summarizes our recent progress in correlating laser spectral changes with degradation and other analytical methods such as electroluminescence and low coherence reflectometry