Burn-In Aging Behavior and Analytical Modeling of Wavelength-Division Multiplexing Semiconductor Lasers: Is the Swift Burn-In Feasible for Long-Term Reliability Assurance?
Effective and economical burn-in screening is important for technology development and manufacture of semiconductor lasers. We study the burn-in degradation behavior of wavelength-division multiplexing semiconductor lasers to determine the feasibility of short burn-in. The burn-in is characterized by the sublinear model and correlated with long-term reliability. 1. Introduction As the demand of data, voice, and video play grows, the bandwidth requirement for downstream and upstream transmissions continues to increase. Recently, there has been accelerated growth in bandwidth demand due to the introduction of mobile smart phones and portable touch screen tablets (iPhone, iPad, etc.). Wavelength-division multiplexing has been the enabling technology for higher bandwidth. To meet the WDM applications where a high density of channels is in service, each channel requires superior reliability and wavelength stability. Some network and cable operators have tightened up their wavelength stability from 0.1？nm to 0.03–0.09？nm [1–4]. On the other hand, there has been an ongoing driver to reduce the manufacturing cost and cycle time of the laser components. One way to achieve the lower cost is by means of qualification improvement. In this paper, we study the burn-in behavior of the WDM distributed feedback (DFB) lasers and correlate it with long-term reliability. We characterize the burn-in behavior using sublinear model and determine the burn-in times. We also correlate the burn-in with the long-term life test. We demonstrate that swift burn-in screen of BH lasers is feasible while meeting the long-term WDM reliability requirement. 2. Experimental The buried heterostructure (BH) DFB lasers with C-band (1550？nm and vicinity) lasing wavelength were used for the study. Epitaxial layers were grown on n-type InP substrate using metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) technique. First, n-doped InP buffer layer was grown. An active layer consisting of multiquantum well structures and grating layers were grown sequentially. The composition of the active region was InGaAsP. A mesa structure was formed by wet etch. Subsequently, p-InP and n-InP burying layers were grown to form current blocking. The final regrowth layer was grown, etched into mesa structure, and covered with SiNx/SiO2 dielectric layers. The contact opening in the dielectric was created by reactive ion etching (RIE), and the p-metallization stack of Ti/Pt/Au/Cr/Au was deposited to make ohmic contact. On the n-side, the wafer was thinned by lapping and deposited with AuGe/Ni/Au to form n-contact.
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