Reliability of high performance 660nm VCSEL arrays for consumer applications

We present the latest reliability results from our high power, high efficiency red VCSEL arrays at 660 nm with an output power in the range of 1 to over 100 mW, suitable for consumer application. Manufacturing process was done using high volume 6” GaAs fab. Under pulsed operation conditions (1ms pulse width, 10% duty cycle), the VCSEL arrays are able to produce an optical output power exceeding 100 mW, maintaining stable operation at ambient temperatures up to 50 °C. The combination of a carefully designed epi structure which minimizes stress and thermal impedance and an optimized layout for heat conduction are implemented in our red VCSELs. The optimized structure not only shows good thermal properties, the resulting reliability also is improved significantly. Highly Accelerated Stress Testing (HAST), HighTemperature Operating Life (HTOL), and 85C/85% Damp heat tests have reached over 1000+ hours with minimal drift. We will provide important design optimization results and discuss the influence of various array layouts on the thermal management and overall device performance for consumer and industrial applications.