In-Well Pumping of a Membrane External-Cavity Surface-Emitting Laser

• Published in: IEEE journal of selected topics in quantum electronics Vol. 28; no. 1: Semiconductor Lasers; pp. 1 - 7
• Main Authors: Priante, Davide, Zhang, Mingyang, Albrecht, Alexander R., Bek, Roman, Zimmer, Michael, Nguyen, Catherine L., Follman, David P., Cole, Garrett D., Sheik-Bahae, Mansoor
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York IEEE 01-01-2022; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE); IEEE Lasers and Electro-optics Society
• Subjects: Comparative studies; Engineering; Heat pumps; In-well pumping; Laser excitation; Lasers; membrane external-cavity surface-emitting laser (MECSEL); Membranes; Optical pumping; Optical surface waves; optically-pumped semiconductor laser; Optics; Physics; Power generation; Pump lasers; Quantum wells; Semiconductor lasers; sodium guide star lasers; Surface emitting lasers; Vertical cavity surface emitting lasers
• ISSN: 1077-260X; 1558-4542
• DOI: 10.1109/JSTQE.2021.3109803

We present a detailed characterization and comparative study of a membrane external-cavity surface-emitting laser (MECSEL) operating in the λ = 1125-1190 nm wavelength range under in-well pumping (at 1070 nm) and barrier-pumping (at 808 nm). The slope efficiency of the laser is significantly improved from 21% with barrier-pumping to 39% when pumping only the quantum wells at 1070 nm at a heat-sink temperature of 10 °C. To address the low pump absorbance with in-well pumping, we design and implement a low-aberration multi-pass pumping scheme. An optical output power of 28.5 W and slope efficiency of ∼28% is achieved with 8 circulating passes. This represents the highest output power demonstrated in any MECSEL, as well as the highest output power in-well pumped vertical external-cavity surface-emitting laser (VECSEL). It is noted that our reported output power is only limited by the available laser input power and no thermal roll-over is observed.