Changes in excess carrier recombination dynamics caused by aging of GaN-based blue laser diodes

Abstract

Electrically degraded GaInN/GaN-based laser ridges were analyzed by optical gain, temperature and power dependent photoluminescence, and time-resolved photoluminescence measurements and compared to non-degraded laser ridges. A decrease of the optical gain and changes in recombination times were observed for the degraded lasers. In the high carrier density regime nonradiative recombination seems to become more efficient in degraded lasers by heat generation, while in the low carrier density regime degraded laser ridges show a higher quantum efficiency than non-degraded laser ridges. © 2005 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.