Reliability evaluation for Blu-Ray laser diodes

With this paper we describe an extensive analysis of the reliability of InGaN-based laser diodes, emitting at 405 nm. These devices have excellent characteristics for application in the next-generation optical data storage systems. The analysis aims at describing the degradation process, as well as at investigating the role of current in determining the degradation rate. The results obtained within this paper suggest that the degradation of the laser diodes is correlated to the increase in the non-radiative recombination rate, with subsequent worsening of the optical properties of the devices. Furthermore, our findings support the hypothesis that current is the main driving force for degradation, while temperature and optical power play only a limited role in determining the degradation kinetics.