High‐Resolution Spectroscopy of Blue High‐Power Laser Diodes with a Fabry–Pérot Interferometer

Abstract

In this work, it is aimed to study the interplay of different longitudinal mode combs corresponding to higher‐order lateral modes of broad‐area Fabry–Pérot‐type laser diodes. Coherent coupling of longitudinal modes of different mode combs influences the near‐ and far‐field pattern of the diode. Herein, commercial state‐of‐the‐art high‐power laser diodes based on the (Al,In)GaN material system in the blue spectral range with a 40 μm broad ridge are investigated. To spectrally resolve the different lateral modes, a sequential combination of a high‐resolution double grating spectrometer and a Fabry–Pérot interferometer (FPI) is used. The grating spectrometer acts as bandpass with a spectral width smaller than the free spectral range (FSR) of the FPI. The FPI with a finesse of approximately boosts the resolution to 0.08 pm. A spectral clustering of lateral modes with increasing current and also a variation of the number of distinguishable lateral modes between 7 and 11 are observed. Within the current range from 1.25Ith to 2.25Ith, there is no clear evidence for coherent coupling. It is concluded that mode‐pulling is not strong enough to coherently couple modes on the investigated time and wavelength range.