Gamma-ray irradiation effects on distributed-feedback laser diodes

Since laser diodes are increasingly used in harsh environments, the effect of irradiation on their performance attracts a lot of attention. We perform experiments for investigating the irradiation effects on laser diodes with distributed feedback operating at 1550 nm output wavelength with 2 mW output power. The radiation source is Co⁶⁰ gamma ray with a dose rate of 0.5 Gy/s and the dose range within 10² – 8 ∙ 10³ Gy. We study experimentally the threshold current, slope efficiency, and spectrum versus the variations in total dose. The results show that the threshold current increases exponentially and the slope efficiency decreases with increase in total dose. In addition, some sharp peaks appear in the spectrum at small driving current, and the spectrum broadens when the driving current increases and, meanwhile, the peak blue shift is observed. The spectrum can be recovered after annealing for 12 hours and when a greater driving current is applied.