Abstract: An equivalent circuit model of a laser array is established,and simulated processes are imposed on the model using PSPICE.The simulated and experimental results indicate that the ideality factor of the laser array is equal to that of its elements,and the current leakage and abnormal ideality factor variation of elements can result in the increase of the ideality factor of the laser array.We propose a new method to detect the ideality factor of a laser array element by using an electrical derivative test of the laser array,and we also propose the use of the ideality factor of a laser array as a screen to estimate the reliability the array.

Key words: laser array, equivalent circuit model, electrical characteristics, reliability, ideality factor, electrical derivative