Time-resolved thermal characterization of semiconductor lasers

The authors propose and demonstrate a simple nondestructive technique that allows characterizing precisely the thermal properties of semiconductor lasers. The method consists of performing transmission measurements with a probe beam end fire coupled into one of the waveguide facets. Fabry-Perot oscillations occur as the cavity temperature varies, allowing for a time-resolved characterization of heating and dissipation processes. This leads to a very accurate knowledge of the thermal behavior of a third-order-mode semiconductor laser proposed for intracavity nonlinear processes. (c) 2007 American Institute of Physics.