Facet oxidation of InGaAsP/InP and InGaAs/InP lasers

The facet oxidation of InGaAsP/InP and InGaAs/InP lasers is investigated after aging under high constant optical output power or high current stress. Facet oxidation in InGaAsP/InP lasers is negligibly small under several thousand hours of practical operation. The thickness of oxide film increases in proportion to optical output power and logarithm of aging time. The growth rate of facet oxide film weakly depends on the junction temperature and the activation energy is estimated to be 0.07 eV within a experimental range between 25 and 150°C. The facet of InGaAs/InP lasers are oxidized more easily than that of InGaAsP/InP lasers but are about two orders of magnitude more stable against oxidation than that of AlGaAs/GaAs lasers.