Cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy parallel to the active stripe of

degraded buried heterostructure distributed feedback laser devices

S. N. G. Chu and S. Nakahara

Citation: Applied Physics Letters 62, 817 (1993); doi: 10.1063/1.108588

View online: http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.108588
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 Cross-sectional transmisslon electron microscopy parallel to the active
stripe of degraded buried heterostructure distributed feedback
laser devices
S. N. G. Chu and S. Nakahara
AT&T Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill, New Jersey 07974
(Received 20 July 1992; accepted for publication 14 December 1992)
We demonstrate for the first time that cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy can be
applied parallel to the active stripe of a distributed feedback buried heterostructure laser diode
to identify the cause for degradation during reliability qualification. A dominant defect
mechanism is found to be the generation of dislocation loops at or near the grating/
waveguide-layer interface which subsequently propagate up through the multilayer structure.
The vertical segments of the loops tend to be trapped onto the { 111) planes to form a V-shaped
configuration as revealed in the (011) cross section. A dislocation reaction mechanism is
proposed to explain the observed dislocation configuration. Furthermore, complicated
dislocation loops are grown out of the segments of dislocation threading through the active
region forming (100) dark line defects revealed by the electroluminescence. The defect growth
mechanism is believed to be a condensation of point defects induced by the nonradiative
recombination assisted point defect migration process similar to that previously observed in
degraded channeled substrate buried heterostructure lasers. The nucleation of dislocations at or
near the grating/waveguide layer interface is consistent with a high interfacial strain observed in
the degraded devices.

Distributed-feedback buried heterostructure (DFB)
lasers are the commonly used single mode laser devices for
advanced optical fiber communication systems operating in
the 1.3-1.55 pm wavelength regime for high-bite rate and
long-haul transmission.’ These lasers employ a grown-in
grating separated from the lasing stripe by a thin wave-
guide layer to provide a distributed feedback of the optical
field for single mode operation. A typical structure of the
DFB-laser chip is shown in Fig. 1 along with the three
types of sections marked with the dash lines for transmis-
sion electron microscopy (TEM) studies. The size of the
chip is 500X250 ,um and the buried active stripe in these
devices is only around 1 ,um wide X 250 pm long X 0.1 pm
thick. At this moment, TEM is the only technique which
can reveal the detailed crystalline defects developed in the
degraded devices. Previously, we have identified the defect
mechanisms associated with device degradation during ac-
celerated aging of channeled substrate buried heterostruo
ture (CSBH) lasers2’3 and edge emitting light-emitting-
diodes.’ The success of these studies lies critically in the
skill of TEM sample preparation. Two types of the TEM
samples, (100) plan(top)-view of the active stripe and
(011) cross-sectional view perpendicular to the length of
the active stripe as outlined in Fig. 1, can now be routinely
prepared from the laser devices. For non-DFB lasers, these
two orientations are adequate for revealing the essential
defect structure inside the active stripe. It is no doubt that
the (Oil) cross section parallel to the active stripe provides
a better view for studying the defect evolution across the
[Oi 1] orientation, it is necessary to examine the (Oi 1) cross
section parallel to the active stripe in order to reveal the
detailed defect structure associated with the grating inter-
face. In this letter, we demonstrate the first successful
(Oil) XTEM study of the defect structure in degraded
DFB lasers.
The base structure of the DFB lasers were prepared by
vapor phase epitaxy on ( 100) InP substrates with chemi-
cally etched gratings. Mesas of 1 ,um wide were etched and
current blocking layers grown around the mesas to form a
buried heterostructure. The wafers were then processed
into laser diodes. Devices which passed the performance
test were subjected to an accelerated purging test for reli-
ability qualification. A standard purging condition is
100 “C at 200 mA for 24 h. The changes in threshold cur-
rent, peak power, slope, efficiency, etc. after purging were
measured and compared with a specification. A small
ACTIVE STRIPE
PLAN-VIEW
(oi 1) CROSSSECTIO OSS SECTION

entire multilayer structure, however, due to the narrow

width of the active stripe, preparation of a cross-sectional
TEM( XTEM) sample in this orientation containing, the
active stripe is very difficult and has never been demon-
strated. For DFB lasers,sincethe grating is parallel to the
FIG. 1. Schematic diagram showing a multilayer DFB-laser structure.
The dashed lines indicate three types of TEM samples: (a) (100) plan-
vie_w, (b) (011) cross-section perpendicular to the active stripe, and (c)
(011) cross section parallel to the active stripe.

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817 Appl. Phys. Lett. 62 (8), 22 February 1993 0003-6951/93/080817-03$06.00 @I 1993 American lnstitute of Physics 817
129.120.242.61 On: Wed, 26 Nov 2014 14:22:56

InP COVER BAR
FIG. 2 Schematic diagram showing initial step of preparation of XTEM
sample parallel to the active stripe of a laser chip.
amount of the devices which failed the purging test were
studied by XTEM to identify the cause for degradation. A
cross-sectional sample parallel to the active stripe was pre-
pared in the following way. Devices debonded from the
header were first etched to remove the contact metals. The
laser chip was then epoxy bonded .onto an InP bar. sur-
rounded by two dummy InP pieces of the same thickness.
The position of the active stripe was marked by the dummy
pieces on each side of the chip as shown in Fig. 2. A second
InP bar cleaved from a polished substrate was epoxy
bonded onto the top surface of the chip to make a sand-
wich structure. The details of the chemical thinning pro-
cess using a grid masking technique have been previously
described.5 The critical step in this case is to catch the 1
pm wide active stripe with the help of dummy markers in
the first polish step to smooth the sandwich structure. All
the polish steps were done manually and monitored repeat-
edly under a Nomarski optical microscope. After the active
stripe is reached, the sample is then turned over for a sec-
ond polish thinning and finishes with a grid-masking etch-
ing. TEM study was performed using a Philips EM 420
electron microscope operated at 120 kV.
To ensure that defects were generated during purging
test, laser chips debonded from the carriers were backside
polished and examined by electroluminescence imaging be-
fore preparing into TEM samples. A typical purge-fail de-
vice shows dark-line defect formation inside’ the active
FlG. 3. XTEM micrographs of a (Oil ) cross-section parallel to the active
stripe showing (a) 1/2[iOl] dislocation loop generated at the grating/
waveguide layer interface and propagating halfway into the active layer
(g=[%] and .r=[Oll]), the hollow arrows marked the positions of the
grating troughs, and (b), a tilted view of the same dislocation revealing
the interfacial defect that the dislocation originated from (g= [220] and
2=[001]).
818 Appi. Phys. Let, Vol. 62, No. 8, 22 February 1993
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129.120.242.61 On: Wed, 26 Nov 2014 14:22:56
~-i-;y$$.**r;.E.. .i
.<i;--7 s’
___~
;‘i
‘b
-+-
.: ACTIVE
-
%
GRATING
FIG. 4. XTEM micrograph of a different region showing a fully devel-
oped dislocation structure initiated from the same interfacial region (g
= [400] and z=[Olll_). The Burge_rsvectors associated with the disloca-
tions are b,= 1/2[101], bz=1/2[110], and b3= 1/2[011].
stripe,’ indicating that crystalline defects are indeed gener-
ated during accelerated purging test. The corresponding
defect structures revealed by TEM in a (Oil) cross section
parallel to the active stripe are shown in Figs. 3-5. In
contrast to the commonly observed ( 100) dislocation loops
generated from the stripe mesa sidewall interface in non-
DFB lasers, Figure 3 (a) shows a 1/2[iOl] dislocation loop
generated at the gratindwaveguide interfacial region and
propagated up halfway in to the active region. The micro-
graph was taken using a [;iOO] reflection. The strong inter-
facial strain contrast totally obscures the sinusodial image
of the gratings as indicated by the hollow arrows. The
sample is then tilted along the axis parallel to the active
stripe under a [220] reflection to reveal the interface in Fig.
3(b). 4s expected, the dislocation is originated from an
interfacial defect lying in the grating/waveguide layer in-
terface. A detailed study of the contrast indicates small
interfacial loops possibly formed by precipitation of point
defects. An additional result will be shown in Fig. 5. A
fully developed dislocation structure is shown in Figs. 4
and 5. Three dislocations, bl, b, and b3, are originated
from the same interfacial region and propagate up through
FIG. 5. A tilted view of the same disIocation structure shown in Fig. 4
revealing
-- the dar-k spots in the grating/waveguide interfacial region (g
=[202] and 2=[121].
S. N. G. Chu and S. Nakahara 818
 the entire multilayer structure. The Burgers vectors asso-.
ciated with each dislocation are determined to be 1/2[1Oi],
1/2[1iO] and 1/2[0]1], respectively. Since these disloca-
tions are nucleated locally in a highly strained region of the
interface, it is reasonable to assume that their initial con-
figurations should be similar to the single loop observed in
Fig. 3. They subsequently propagate up by a mixed climb
and slip process and react with each other to form a con-
figuration as seen in Fig. 4. A possible dislocation mecha-
nism can therefore be proposed as follows. Two adjacent
dislocation_ loops with Burgers vectors b, = 1/2[ lOi] and
b3= 1/2[011], respectively, are generated in the same re-
gion of the interface and propagate up during the purging
test. One of the vertical segments of each loop adjacent to
each other react to form the middle dislocation b, shown in
Fig. 4 via a reaction 1/2[1Oi] + 1/2[Oil]= 1/2[110]. Since
l/2(011) dislocations in InP tend to dissociate on {ill}
planes, all three vertical segments of the combined loops
are eventually trapped on the {ill} planes during their
propagation, which is believed to be a low energy config-
uration. The complicated loops attached laterally to the
segments of the dislocations threading through the active
region are due to dislocation climb caused by the nonradi-
ative recombination assisted dislocation climb process nor-
mally observed in degraded devices.4968 These complicated
loops in fact constitute the (100) darkline defects revealed
by electroluminesence. A detailed study of the defects in-
side the active region will be presented elsewhere. To fur-
ther examine the defects at grating/waveguide-layer inter-
face, we tilted the sample along an axis parallel to the
active stripe, and used a (202) reflection to reveal the in-
terface. A projected view of the interface is shown in Fig. 5.
Dark-patch contrasts are distributed randomly along the
entire interface. The observed dislocation structure is again
initiated from one of the interfacial defects. Diffraction
contrast analysis identified that the dark patches are inter-
This article
819 is copyrighted
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indicated
Vol. in
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129.120.242.61 On: Wed, 26 Nov 2014 14:22:56
facial dislocation loops with Burgers vectors of l/2( 1 IO)
types consistent with the threading dislocations generated
from the interfacial defects. Examination of the as-grown
epitaxial structure before device processing showed neither
threading dislocations nor interfacial defects at the same
interface. Therefore, they must be generated during the
accelerated purging test by condensation of point defects at
the interface. The strong inter-facial strain contrast indi-
cates a significant change in lattice constant resulted from
a localized change in composition.
In summary, we reported for the first time a TEM
cross-section study of degraded DFB-laser devices parallel
to the 1 pm wide active stripe. A dominant defect mecha-
nism has been identified in DFB-laser degradation during
an accelerated purging test. In comparing to the non-DFB
lasers, where the active stripe sidewall interfaces are poten-
tial nucleation sites for dislocations during purging tests,
the presence of a strained grating/waveguide layer inter-
face in DFB-lasers, provides an additional site for disloca-
tion generation.
The authors would like to thank W. D. Johnston, Jr.,
V. D. Mattera, L. A. Heimbrook, and W. C. Brodsky for
their support and encouragement in this work, and L. C.
Feldman and T. Boone for the use of TEM.
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