Highly reliable 500 mW laser diodes with epitaxially grown AlON coating for high-density optical storage

Abstract

Highly reliable operation of 405 nm laser diodes for high-density optical storage was demonstrated. Introduction of epitaxially grown AlON layer between the front facet and normal coating layer was shown to be effective to suppress catastrophic optical damage at the laser facet. Stable operation in excess of 1000 h was confirmed at an output power of 500 mW in a pulsed-mode at a case temperature of 80 °C. © 2009 American Institute of Physics.