Analysis simulation of facet temperature in semiconductor lasers

This paper analyzes the damage mechanism of the semiconductor laser cavity surface. Catastrophic optical damage (COD) is one of major mechanisms, which drastically limits laser lifetime and emitted optical power. This paper builds the theoretical model that based on heat source with injection current and optical power to describe the temperature distribution of laser. Through analyzing the edge-emitting semiconductor lasers by using ANSYS, we can describe change of facet temperature distribution before and after the COD events. Through the results of simulation, we can get the conclusion that the main reason of COD is oxidation of the semiconductor laser in facet which caused by optical absorption.