Study of the properties of the SHG with diode lasers

An experimental study of the second-harmonic generation (SHG) properties with nondiffraction-limited radiation is presented. This includes the dependency of the normalized conversion efficiency on the crystal length, the beam quality, and the focusing conditions. A Gauss–Schell-model-based theory of SHG is applied, which gives an improved simulation of the experimental results in comparison to the standard Boyd–Kleinman theory for nondiffraction-limited beams.     

Directly diode-pumped holmium fiber lasers

Sensitizer-free holmium-doped silica and fluoride mid-infrared fiber lasers are pumped using a high-power diode laser operating at 1148 nm. A maximum output power of 162 mW at 2.86 microm was produced at a slope efficiency of 24% using Ho(3+), Pr(3+)-doped fluoride fiber. Using Ho(3+)-doped silica fiber, a maximum output power of 55 mW at 2.1 microm was generated at a slope efficiency of 27%, a value limited by the presence of pump excited state absorption.     

The analysis of factors limiting the maximum output power of broad-area laser diodes

The causes for the saturation of both the continuous-wave and the pulsed output power of broad-area laser diodes driven at very high currents are investigated experimentally and theoretically. The decrease of the gain due to self-heating under continuous-wave operation and spectral holeburning under pulsed operation as well as hetero-barrier carrier leakage and longitudinal spatial holeburning are the dominant mechanisms limiting the maximum achievable output power.     

Facet degradation of high-power diode laser arrays

Micro-Raman facet temperatures of high-power diode lasers with different waveguide architectures are compared. For regular operation conditions, the thermal behavior of ‘unaged’ arrays emitting in the 808-nm wavelength region with different architectures is similar, however, with an increased load thermal behaviors differ significantly and exhibit failure events at facet temperatures typically between 150 and 450 °C. From various experiments, among them facet temperature measurements for ultrahigh-power operation as well as by preparative failure analytics, we provide evidence that in arrays the front facets are significantly affected by device operation and influence the failure behavior of the whole high-power diode laser also in cases when the device failure is accompanied by dislocation creation inside the device. Received: 3 October 1999 / Accepted: 9 November 1999 / Published online: 8 March 2000     

Efficient high-power frequency doubling of distributed Bragg reflector tapered laser radiation in a periodically poled MgO-doped lithium niobate planar waveguide

We report on efficient single-pass, high-power second-harmonic generation in a periodically poled MgO-doped LiNbO3 planar waveguide using a distributed Bragg reflector tapered diode laser as a pump source. A coupling efficiency into the planar waveguide of 73% was realized, and 1.07 W of visible laser light at 532 nm was generated. Corresponding optical and electro-optical conversion efficiencies of 26% and 8.4%, respectively, were achieved. Good agreement between the experimental data and the theoretical predictions was observed.     

High-power laser diodes emitting light above 1100 nm with a small vertical divergence angle of 13 degrees

Laser diodes with highly strained InGaAs quantum wells, emitting at 1130 nm, embedded in a GaAs waveguide were investigated. This Letter reviews the design of the vertical structure for enclosing high output power in angles smaller than 18 degrees . Example designs were processed to 200 microm stripe-width lasers with an 8-mm-long optical cavity. When these are mounted on C mounts, they give an output power of 38 W under quasi-cw operation from a single emitter.     

Miniaturized highly brilliant diode laser modules for future display applications

We demonstrate diode laser modules with high spectral radiance larger than 1 GW/cm²/sr/nm in the visible spectral range. These highly brilliant laser light sources enable the development of next-generation 3D displays. About 1W output power from small-sized modules was achieved at 635 nm by direct diode laser emission and at 530 nm using single pass second harmonic generation (SHG) of a highly brilliant near-infrared laser diode.     

High brightness 735 nm tapered lasers – optimisation of the laser geometry

High brightness tapered laser diodes with different resonator geometries were fabricated and analysed. The devices consist of an index-guided straight section and a gain-guided tapered section. Lasers with a total length L = 2 and 4 mm and different length of the ridge waveguide L _RW (500 μm ≤ L _RW ≤ 1250 μm for L = 2 mm and 500 μm ≤ L _RW ≤ 2000 μm for L = 4 mm) were processed to study the influence of the straight section on the spatial mode filtering. The power–voltage–current-characteristics, the beam waist, the far field, and the beam propagation factor M ² were measured. From the experiments, it can be stated that the lasers with a small L _RW reach higher output powers compared to those with larger L _RW. Concerning the beam quality the length L _RW should exceed a minimal value to guarantee efficient spatial mode filtering. Devices optimised concerning maximum output power and excellent beam quality reach a beam propagation factor smaller than 2.1 at an output power P = 2 W.     

Highly efficient mode-locked Yb:Sc2O3 laser

Passive mode locking of the Yb:Sc2O3 laser is demonstrated. We investigate the laser performance with Ti:sapphire and diode-laser pumping. The laser is mode locked by use of a semiconductor saturable-absorber mirror and emits as much as 0.8 W of power in the picosecond range with a pump efficiency as high as 47%. With dispersion compensation, pulses as short as 230 fs for an average power of 0.54 W are obtained at 1044 nm. This is, to our knowledge, the first femtosecond oscillator based on an Yb-doped sesquioxide crystal.