Abstract

Lead-salt diode lasers have been used primarily as sources for spectroscopic applications. They can also be used as sources for long-wavelength (λ > 2-μm) fiber-optic communications, if low-loss fibers become available. Three major areas of improvement in diode laser performance have been achieved in recent years: long-term reliability; purification of mode properties; and higher temperature of operation. In reliability studies, we have eliminated the slow degradation caused by In diffusion into the laser crystals. By using a multilayer structure of In-Au-Pd-Au as a contact, the room temperature storage time for our diode lasers has been increased from months to a projection of over ten years. In characterizing the mode properties, we found that the lasers emit in a highly localized filamentary manner.

© 1984 Optical Society of America