Optically pumped vertical-external-cavity surface-emitting semiconductor lasers
Optically pumped vertical-external-cavity surface-emitting semiconductor lasers
This thesis is an experimental investigation on the development of an optically pumped vertical-external-cavity surface-emitting semiconductor laser (OP-VECSEL) operating in continuous wave and pulsed operation. In this type of semiconductor laser both the beam quality limitations of edge-emitting diode lasers and the power resctrictions of electrically pumped surface-emitting lasers are overcome. In addition, optical pumping of VECSELs allows scaling of the output power into multiwatt range simply by increasing the laser mode area at the higher pump powers. The semiconductor gain medium consists of a Bragg mirror with a multiple quantum well active region on top, grown by conventional techniques. A comprehensive study is presented for the designs and experimental characterization of such a multilayer structure. Results of the continuous wave operation are discussed for InGaAs/GaAs quantum well gain structures operating at wavelengths around 1μm.
The external cavity lends itself to the introduction of intracavity nonlinear elements, such as semiconductor saturable absorber mirrors (SESAMs) to mode lock the VECSEL. Ultrashort pulse operation has been achieved resulting in picosecond pulses at gigahertz repetition rates and broad (~10nm) optical spectra. The various mechanisms that influence pulse formation and duration are discussed. Exploiting the ac Stark effect, sub-500fs pulses at repetition rates of 1 and 10GHz have been demonstrated to emerge from a semiconductor master oscillator for the first time. Corresponding peak powers of 173W have been achieved. These pulses contained little chirp and by careful balancing the intracavity phase shifts soliton pulses have been generated.
University of Southampton
2003
Hoogland, Sjoerd
(2003)
Optically pumped vertical-external-cavity surface-emitting semiconductor lasers.
University of Southampton, Doctoral Thesis.
Record type:
Thesis
(Doctoral)
Abstract
This thesis is an experimental investigation on the development of an optically pumped vertical-external-cavity surface-emitting semiconductor laser (OP-VECSEL) operating in continuous wave and pulsed operation. In this type of semiconductor laser both the beam quality limitations of edge-emitting diode lasers and the power resctrictions of electrically pumped surface-emitting lasers are overcome. In addition, optical pumping of VECSELs allows scaling of the output power into multiwatt range simply by increasing the laser mode area at the higher pump powers. The semiconductor gain medium consists of a Bragg mirror with a multiple quantum well active region on top, grown by conventional techniques. A comprehensive study is presented for the designs and experimental characterization of such a multilayer structure. Results of the continuous wave operation are discussed for InGaAs/GaAs quantum well gain structures operating at wavelengths around 1μm.
The external cavity lends itself to the introduction of intracavity nonlinear elements, such as semiconductor saturable absorber mirrors (SESAMs) to mode lock the VECSEL. Ultrashort pulse operation has been achieved resulting in picosecond pulses at gigahertz repetition rates and broad (~10nm) optical spectra. The various mechanisms that influence pulse formation and duration are discussed. Exploiting the ac Stark effect, sub-500fs pulses at repetition rates of 1 and 10GHz have been demonstrated to emerge from a semiconductor master oscillator for the first time. Corresponding peak powers of 173W have been achieved. These pulses contained little chirp and by careful balancing the intracavity phase shifts soliton pulses have been generated.
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Published date: 2003
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Local EPrints ID: 465116
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/465116
PURE UUID: dc7d09ee-2e15-47dc-8408-948c3b59d69c
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Date deposited: 05 Jul 2022 00:24
Last modified: 05 Jul 2022 00:24
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Author:
Sjoerd Hoogland
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