High-order optical vortex beam generation based on watt-class spatial phase plate-integrated photonic-crystal surface-emitting lasers.

Abstract

We develop spatial phase plate (SPP)-integrated photonic-crystal surface-emitting lasers featuring double-lattice photonic-crystal structures embedded using a crystal regrowth technique. SPPs possessing eight segmentations per phase rotation number l are fabricated on the top surface to generate optical vortex beams (OVBs) with l = 1-3. The beams exhibit a high output power of ∼5 W and high mode purities of 85%, 78%, and 72% for l = 1-3, respectively. These purity values are comparable with those of a pure Gaussian mode passing through an SPP. The compact, high-power, and high-purity OVB sources can be used in the fields of material processing, optical manipulation, and microscopy.