Catastrophic optical damage in GaInN multiple quantum wells

Abstract
We have observed progressive damage due to reabsorption of stimulated emission in optically pumped laser-quality GaInN–GaN multiple quantum wells. The degradation occurred on a time scale consistent with the lifetime of electrically pumped lasers incorporating the same active region, suggesting that the failure mechanism was in part catastrophic optical damage, and not just heating in the p contact and p cladding as is often assumed.