Laser diodes which incorporate chemically reactive aluminum based materials in their structures are prone to have poor reliability when operated at high output powers because of facet oxidation. The presence of aluminum also makes it difficult to fabricate high performance laser diodes using more than one epitaxial growth step because of oxidation that takes place upon exposure to the atmosphere. By replacing the claddings with layers of Indium Gallium Phosphide grown on Gallium Arsenide substrates, lasers entirely free of aluminum can be fabricated. We will fabricate simple aluminum free laser structures and perform high temperature accelerated aging tests to compare them with similar lasers containing aluminum. High power, reliable laser diodes fabricated with multiple epitaxial growths could revolutionize fields such as satellite communications and optical computer interconnections.
