Size Effect on ESD Threshold and Degradation Behavior of InP Buried Heterostructure Semiconductor Lasers

Optoelectronic components such as laser diodes and light-emitting diodes are vulnerable to electrostatic discharge (ESD) and electrical overstress (EOS). In this paper, we extensively study the size effect on ESD performance of buried heterostructure (BH) distributed feedback (DFB) InGaAsP/InP lasers. We show that the ESD threshold and degradation behavior of BH lasers are correlated with the cavity length and contact width. The ESD threshold increases linearly with increasing cavity length and contact width. For the ESD degradation behavior, the occurrence frequency of hard degradation, a behavior characterized with a sudden jump in threshold current during the ESD voltage ramp, decreases with increasing cavity length. We also show that the dielectric layer is influential in ESD performance. The physical mechanisms of the ESD behavior will also be discussed.