Imaging of stresses in GaAs diode lasers using polarization-resolved photoluminescence

Images of stress distributions in GaAs-based diode lasers have been obtained using scanned polarization-resolved photoluminescence. A stress resolution of about 10/sup 7 /dyn/cm/sup 2 /and a spatial resolution of about 1 mu m have been obtained. The experimental technique is described, and measured stress distributions due to ridge structures, metallization, applied force, and bonding are presented.<>