Advances in high-brightness surface-emitting diode lasers and applications

Abstract

Large area surface emitting lasers with extended cavity control have produced power levels of several hundred mW cw in a high quality TEM00 beam1. These lasers are highly manufacturable at low cost and differ from edge-emitting semiconductor diode lasers in that they are not waveguide devices but can operate in a circular Gaussian beam similar to solid-sate lasers. The high quality beams generated by these lasers can efficiently convert their output into other wavelengths using nonlinear optical materials. In addition, these lasers can operate with high peak power levels without the catastrophic degradation associated with edge-emitting diode lasers. Arrays of such devices can scale power to high levels with operation in the infrared or visible and UV wavelength regions. These lasers can all be tested at the wafer level to provide "know good die" for very low-cost manufacturing. The price points for manufacture of these lasers can reach levels suitable for many large-scale consumer and commercial applications.