On the formation of cleaved mirror facets of GaN-based laser diodes—A comparative study of diamond-tip edge-scribing and laser scribing

The formation of cleaved mirror facets of GaN-based laser diodes on c-plane GaN substrates is investigated using either diamond-tip edge-scribing or laser scribing with a skip-and-scribe method. The yield of properly cleaved facets was significantly improved to around 80% when using the laser skip-and-scribe method instead of diamond scribing. In addition, the cleavage planes of laser scribed samples showed fewer terraces than those of diamond scribed samples. The performance of broad area laser diodes with proper facet quality is shown to be independent of the scribing methods studied.