Bipolar Cascade Superluminescent Diodes at the 1.04-mu m Wavelength Regime

Abstract

In this study, we investigate the performance of GaAs-based bipolar cascade superluminescent diodes with different cavity lengths. The device operates around the important bio-optical therapeutic 1.04-mu m wavelength window. The introduction of tunnel junctions tends to minimize the nonuniform carrier distribution between distinct multiple quantum-wells (QWs), which is a problem in conventional SLDs, whose electroluminescent spectra are governed by the center wavelength of QWs near the p-side. Our devices exhibit nice electrical characteristics of low leakage current and overcome the limitation of nonuniform carrier distribution, thereby presenting a promising prospect for the near infrared white-light sources.