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Reliability Issues in Pump Laser Packaging

Rainer Battig, Hans-Ulrich Pfeiffer, Niko Matuschek, and Bemd Valk Nortel Networks Optical Components Binzstr. 17, CH-8045 Zurich, Switzerland
1iunefiilnorteInetworks.com www.nortelnehvorks.com

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Scan Enochs Flextronics Photonics 20795 NW Cornell Rd., Suite 600, Hillsboro, OR 97124
It is anticipated that in the near future Erbium Doped Fiber Amplifiers (EDFA's) will find their way into new optical networking concepts, ranging fkom WDM systems in the metro sector to loss-compensation in optical switching. In order to be viable, these applications demand a technology, which in comparison to traditional systems is more compact, less costly, and more readily integrated, yet offers comparable performance and reliability. These demands are probably most significant for the EDFA pump laser. Our contribution discusses general reliability issues in pump module packaging, with special emphasis on how they will likely be addressed in future designs. As an example of this emerging trend in pump laser packaging we will present some of the design concepts and the reliability performance of our recently introduced family of un-cooled 980nm pump modules. For 98Onm pumps, the key target specificationsdefined by new applications may be summarised as follows. Chip reliability < 500 FIT. Target package reliability < 500 FIT. Wavelength-stabilised output power 2OOmW. Roadmap to 30OmW. Operating case temperature 0C to 70C. Power consumption < 1W. Packaging technology opens path to sustainable cost reduction. We and other manufacturers have recognised that these requirements can only be addressed by a significant differentiation of conventional 980nm module technology, notably the transition to cooler-less operation. Our design features an 8-pin ceramic (A1203) miniDL housing and a near planar assembly technology. The rated output power of this product family is 2OOmW.
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Apart from eliminating the thermoelectric cooler (TEC) as a cost contributor, a cooler-less design offers further major benefits. Since internal heat dissipation and space consumption are reduced, a cost-reduced housing type with a small foot print and a relatively high thermal resistance to outer case can be chosen. Coaxial type housings are a viable alternative to our ceramic miniDIL. They are low cost, but have the disadvantage of restricting the electrical pinout and not being readily compatible with high performance fiber coupling schemes. Pump laser packaging, typically, aims to maximise fiber launch efficiency. In order to maintain coupling performance over time and ambient conditions, care is necessary in the design and the choice of materials. In a package without TEC this issue is further compounded, as the optical

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train is not isolated from variations in case temperature. We have opted to mount the laser chip, the rear facet monitor, a thermistor, and the fiber coupling arrangement onto a common ceramic (A1203) platform using eutectic (AuSn) soldering. The platform is directly soldered to the ceramic package base. The near planar design enhances reliability in two ways. Mismatches in the coefficients of thermal expansion are minimised, reducing thermal stress during assembly and under varying ambient conditions. Secondly, the optical beam height is minimised, reducing drifts in optical coupling due to differential thermal expansion in the sensitive vertical direction. In conventional pump laser packaging, bulk optics and fiber lenses are widely used for fiber coupling. Bulk optics results in relatively high alignment tolerances and low cavity feedback, but it uses up considerable space and does not readily yield ultra-high coupling. In our design we utilise a cylindrical wedge type fiber lens, applied to a metalised fiber, offering a coupling efficiency in excess of 70%. The metalised fiber is directly soldered to the ceramic platform [l]. Compared to designs featuring a laser welded optical train, this approach minimises space consumption and eliminates the need for precisely machined, stress-free metal parts to hold and fix the fiber. Excellent stability of the optical coupling with changes in case temperature could be demonstrated. Over the temperature range of 0C to 70C the observed changes in coupling efficiency were consistently below 0.15dB (* 3%). We have performed extensive reliability testing, involving high temperature storage, thermal cycling, and lifetests. These stress tests, which exceed the requirements of Telcordia-468 and the operating specifications of the product, have demonstrated a stability matching the performance of laser-welded designs. The reliability of a 980nm laser chip is a function of junction temperature, operating current, and optical output power. In order to guarantee a desired reliability for a specified range of output powers and case temperatures, an optimised thermal design is thus of great importance. For our design a value of 60-70K/W was determined for the thermal resistance between laser junction and case. Leveraging the gains in reliability and efficiency accomplished in our recent chip generations [ 21, this thermal path is consistent with a reliability better than 500 FIT at 70C case temperature. The Hermetic Enclosure Phenomenon, HEP, alternatively called Package Induced Failure, PIF, is a well-documented failure mode in high power 98Onm pump lasers. In the HEP scenario, hydrocarbon contaminants accrete in locations of high optical flux, i.e. the laser facet or on surfaces of the optical train, leading to catastrophic mirror or lens burn-out. It is thus common practice in 980nm pump packaging to strictly avoid the use of organic materials inside the package cavity and to add oxygen to the package atmosphere. The presence of oxygen, however, favours the long-term evolution of humidity, as a by-product of the oxidisation of organic traces and by reaction with hydrogen emanating form internal surfaces. A long-term humidity concentration of below 5,000 ppmv, which can be achieved by careful desiccation and dehydrogenation processes, is sufficient for operation down to 0C. To reduce humidity even firther, it is common practice to include a humidity getter.
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Scott Enochs, Opto-mechanical Packaging for Extended Temperature Performance, Proc. SPIE, 1043, Laser Diode Technology and Applications, Los Angeles, 1989. Hans-Uhich Pfeiffer, et al., Reliability of 980 nm Pump Lasers for Submarine, Longhaul Terrestrial, and Low Cost Metro Applications., Proc. OFC 2002, p. 483-84.

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