Greater than 500-mW CW kink-free single transverse-mode operation of weakly index guided buried-stripe type 980-nm laser diodes

This is the first report of greater than 500-mW CW kink-free single transverse-mode operation of 980-nm laser diodes with a weakly index guided buried-stripe type structure. The device exhibited a kink-free level of 545 mW and maximum optical output power of over 650 mW limited by thermal saturation and showed no catastrophic optical damage, in addition, a currently on-going aging test at 350 mW optical output power at 50/spl deg/C has shown stable operation. Using a can-sealed LD, we also fabricated a co-axial type module with a two-lens system and a lensed-fiber. The coupling efficiency between the LD and a single-mode fiber was calculated to be approximately 78% and we have confirmed 300 mW kink-free fiber output operation. These figures are also the highest reported operation levels for 980-nm co-axial type modules.