Effective Failure Analysis for Packaged Semiconductor Lasers with a Simple Sample Preparation and Home-Made PEM System

As the application requirements of semiconductor lasers continue to increase, severe challenges are brought to the reliability of semiconductor lasers. In order to promote the study of laser failure, this paper proposes an effective failure analysis method for packaged semiconductor lasers with a simple sample preparation and home-made photon emission microscopy (PEM) system. The new simple sample preparation process for failure analysis is presented and the necessary polishing fixture is designed so that sample can be obtained without expensive and complex micro-/nano-processing. Two types of home-made PEM experimental systems were established for observing the failure from the front facet and active region of semiconductor lasers. Experimental results showed that, with the proposed sample preparation flow, the home-made PEM experimental system effectively observed the leakage defects from the front facet and dark spot defects (DSDs) in the active region of semiconductor lasers. The method can help researchers and laser manufactures to perform effective failure analysis of packaged semiconductor lasers.