Microthermography of diode lasers: The impact of light propagationon image formation

We analyze the effect of propagating infrared thermal radiation within a diode laser on its thermal image taken by a thermocamera. A ray-tracing analysis shows that this effect substantially influences image formation on a spatial scale of 10   μ m , i.e., in the domain of microthermography. The mai...

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Published in:Journal of applied physics 2009-01, Vol.105 (1), p.014502-014502-6
Main Authors: LeClech, Julien, Ziegler, Mathias, Mukherjee, Jayanta, Tomm, Jens W., Elsaesser, Thomas, Landesman, Jean-Pierre, Corbett, Brian, Mclnerney, John G., Reithmaier, Johann Peter, Deubert, Stefan, Forchel, Alfred, Nakwaski, Włodzimierz, Sarzała, Robert P.
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Summary:We analyze the effect of propagating infrared thermal radiation within a diode laser on its thermal image taken by a thermocamera. A ray-tracing analysis shows that this effect substantially influences image formation on a spatial scale of 10   μ m , i.e., in the domain of microthermography. The main parameter affecting the thermal radiation spread in the semitransparent semiconductor structure is the free carrier concentration in the substrate, governing its absorption. Two applications are presented: a quantum dot laser and a quantum-well laser, where independent thermal models are developed using the finite element method (FEM). Our ray-tracing analysis verifies the FEM simulated temperature profiles by interlinking them to experimental temperature maps obtained through microthermography. This represents a versatile experimental method for extracting reliable bulk-temperature data from diode lasers on a microscopic scale.
ISSN:0021-8979
1089-7550
DOI:10.1063/1.3055356