ESD sensitivity of AlGaAs and InGaAsP based Fabry–Perot laser diodes

The sensitivity to electrostatic discharges of Fabry–Perot laser diodes with InGaAsP as active layer material has been tested and compared to Fabry–Perot lasers based on AlGaAs as active layer material. In the case of the forward-bias ESD pulses we observed a substantially lower degradation threshold voltage for the AlGaAs type lasers as compared to the InGaAsP type lasers. A detailed analysis of the optical and electrical parameters before and after ESD test with particular emphasis on the characteristic temperature and optical emission spectra changes has been done. Effective suppression of the optical emission on a ns-time scale due to device heating during the forward-bias ESD pulses has been evidenced by monitoring the light emission during ESD pulses.