High-power and highly reliable 638-nm band BA-LD for CW operation

High-power laser diodes (LDs) are strongly demanded as light sources of display applications. In multiple spatial light modulator-type projectors or liquid crystal displays, the light source LDs are operated under CW condition. The high-power 638-nm band broad-area LD for CW operation was newly developed. The LD consisted of two stripes with each width of 75 μm to reduce both an optical power density at a front facet and a threshold current. The newly improved epitaxial technology was also applied to the LD to suppress an electron overflow from an active layer. The LD showed superior output characteristics, such as output of 1.77 W at case temperature of 55 °C with wall plug efficiency (WPE) of 23%, which was improved by 40% compared with the current product. The peak WPE at 25 °C reached 40.6% under the output power of 2.37 W, CW, world highest.