Reliability of InGaAs/InP semiconductor diode lasers

The reliability of InGaAs/InP semiconductor lasers at typical use conditions is extremely high. This has led to their successful deployment in applications ranging from terrestrial long-haul communication links (MTTF/spl ges/25 years) to transoceanic submarine cable systems (MTTF/spl ges/300 years). At the same time, extremely long service lifetimes and high system reliability requirements make the quantification of device reliability an inexact science, since the period for study must of necessity be a small fraction of the desired system life. >