Design and characteristics of high-power (>0.5-W CW) diode-pumped vertical-external-cavity surface-emitting semiconductor lasers with circular TEM00 beams

We describe the design, fabrication, and measured characteristics of the high-power optically pumped-semiconductor (OPS) vertical-external-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs). Using diode laser pumping, we have recently demonstrated operation of such lasers, which for the first time generate high (watt-level) power and a circular Gaussian beam directly from a semiconductor laser. These OPS-VECSELs have a strain-compensated multi-quantum-well InGaAs-GaAsP-GaAs structure and operate CW near λ~1004 nm with output power of 0.69 W in TEM ₁₁ mode, 0.52 W in TEM₀₀ mode and 0.37 W coupled to a single-mode fiber. With multiple pump and gain elements, OPS-VCSEL technology is scalable to the multiwatt power levels. Such lasers will prove useful in a variety of applications requiring compact and efficient sources with high-power output in a single-mode fiber or with diffraction-limited beam quality