Effects of 5.5-MeV proton irradiation on reliability of a strained-quantum-well laser diode and a multiple-quantum-well broadband light-emitting diode

摘要

sses of quantum-well-based fiber-optic light sources are examined for degradation under 5.5-MeV proton irradiation as part of an evaluation study for satellite applications. Contrary to previous experience with bulk active area heterostructure light- emitting diodes and laser diodes, it was found that these quantum-well light-emitting diodes are more tolerant of proton irradiation than quantum-well-based lasers. This is the case when the quantum-well light-emitting diode structure allows operation far into gain saturation and the cavity is lossy compared with the quantum-well lasers where gain is more sensitive to current density and with low-loss cavities. Experimental damage factors were measured for performance parameters of these quantum-well photonic devices and found to be similar to those previously reported for carrier removal rates in GaAs-based electronic structures.