Wavelength stabilized high pulse power 48 emitter laser bars for automotive light detection and ranging application

Abstract

Diode lasers generating optical pulses with high peak power and lengths in the nanosecond range are key components for light detection and ranging systems, e.g. for autonomous driving and object detection. We present here an internally wavelength stabilized distributed Bragg reflector broad area laser bar with 48 emitters. The vertical structure based on AlGaAs (confinement and cladding layers) and InGaAs (active quantum well) is specifically optimized for wavelength-stabilized pulsed operation, applying a surface Bragg grating with high reflectivity. The bar is electrically driven by a new in-house developed high-speed driver based on GaN transistors providing current pulses with amplitudes of up to 1000 A and a repetition frequency of 10 kHz. The generated 4 ns to 10 ns long optical pulses are nearly rectangular shaped and reach a pulse peak power in excess of 600 Watts at 25 degrees C. The optical spectrum with a centre wavelength of about 900 nm has a width of 0.15 nm (FWHM) with a side mode suppression ratio > 30 dB.