Reliable high-power, singlemode, 630-640 nm Ga/sub 0.5/In/sub 0.5/P/GaAlInP ridge waveguide laser diodes

Single-longitudinal and stable fundamental-mode operation to CW output powers of 40 mW, and maximum CW output powers of 46 mW at a wavelength of 636 nm were achieved for 10 μm-wide, 1200 μm-long GaInP/GaAlInP ridge waveguide laser diodes at room temperature. Ongoing lifetests indicate stable 5 and 20 mW operation of more than 2000 and 1200 h at room temperature with extrapolated lifetimes > 10000 and 6000 h, respectively.