Thermal Behaviour for InGaAsP/InP Multi-Quantum-Well Superluminescent Diodes

Using a two-dimensional thermal flow model, we calculate the thermal resistance and the temperature distribution of InGaAsP/InP multi-quantum-well superluminescent diodes. The influence of lateral chip size and composition are evaluated. The results reveal that when the injection power reaches 1W, temperatures in the active region rises up to almost 50K. The width and length of the chip also have strong influence on the thermal resistance that can reach two orders of magnitude. The thermal resistance will change from 290K/W to 68K/W when the chip width increases from 500μm to 2500μm, and a similar result exists for the length. There is small effect on thermal resistance for active width. In view of the characteristics of output power versus the input current under pulsed and continues currents, the fitted experimental thermal resistance matches well with the measured results.