We present a laser system for the generation and stabilization of continuous wave emission at 1.9 THz. The system is based on difference frequency generation (DFG) from a bi-color vertical external cavity surface emitting laser (VECSEL). The intracavity DFG process enables THz generation with milliwatt power level at room temperature with a clear quadratic dependence on the intracavity power. The two colors are spectrally selected via an intracavity etalon while the laser cavity geometry is engineered to minimize mode competition between the two colors via spatial hole burning, improving the stability of the THz emission. The intensity noise of the THz output is further reduced by 16 dB/Hz with an active stabilization scheme. The origin of residual fluctuations is discussed and we found that the asymmetrical amplification of one color reduced the RIN even further, down to 21 dB/Hz, comparing to the free-running symmetrical lasing.
The mid-infrared (MIR) region above 3 microns is of great interest for spectroscopic applications. Because it is difficult to produce mode-locked laser sources that emit natively in this region, difference frequency generation (DFG) is a popular method to produce mid-IR output using more traditional laser oscillators. Previous examples include fiber based DFG sources and OPOs, which are typically limited to repetition rates on the order of tens to hundreds of MHz. VECSELs allow access to higher repetition rates, while the use of highly nonlinear waveguides enables the requisite spectral broadening despite the lower pulse energy. In this work we present a VECSEL-based frequency comb that uses DFG to produce output in the 3-4 micron range. This system is based on a mode-locked VECSEL emitting at a 1030 nm wavelength with a 1.6 GHz repetition rate. A Yb fiber amplification system is used to increase the power to over 10W and compress the pulses to sub-90 fs. Coherent spectral broadening out to 1560 nm is achieved with a nonlinear waveguide. By combining the 1030 nm and 1560 nm beams in a PPLN DFG crystal, 290 mW of mid IR output between 3.0 and 3.5 microns is produced. Since the DFG light is produced by two wavelengths from the same oscillator, the carrier envelope offset frequency is cancelled, producing an offset free comb requiring stabilization of only a single degree of freedom. We characterize this VECSEL based frequency comb and discuss the advantages it provides for spectroscopic applications.
We present a new method to simulate the formation of transverse modes in VECSELs. An expression for the gain as a function of carrier density and temperature is derived from a simulation of the structure reflectivity, while the field propagation in the cavity is computed with the Huygens-Fresnel integral. A rate equation model is employed to calculate the field and gain dynamics over numerous round-trips. The optimal mode size for single mode operation for a given pump shape is calculated and compared to experimental results. The effect of pump geometry, thermal lensing and structure design will be discussed.
We present preliminary results showing the potential of VECSEL technology for the generation of high power coherent supercontinuum. Among these results, we demonstrate a stable output power of 16 W with a pulse duration of 71 fs and a repetition rate of 1.7 GHz from a VECSEL oscillator and Ytterbium fiber amplifier. This system was used to generate a coherent supercontinuum averaging 3 W of power using a highly nonlinear photonic crystal fiber. In addition, we discuss the possible methods for the detection and stabilization of the carrier offset frequency. The beatnote between a VECSEL seeded supercontinuum and an external CW laser reveals a relatively stable signal, well above the detection noise. A discussion about system design considerations for noise reduction and increased offset frequency stability is also included.
Here we present the gain and SESAM structure design strategy employed for the demonstration of ultrashort pulses and we present a comprehensive study outlining the influence of the cavity geometry on the pulse duration and peak power achievable with a state of the art VECSEL and SESAM structure. We will discuss the physical mechanisms limiting the output power with near 100fs pulses and we will compare experimental results obtained with different cavity geometries, including a V-shaped cavity, a multi-fold cavity, and a ring cavity in a colliding pulse modelocking scheme. The experimental results are supported by numerical simulations.
Mode-locked VECSELs using SESAMs are a relatively less complex and cost-effective alternative to state-of-the-art ultrafast lasers based on solid-state or fiber lasers. VECSELs have seen considerable progress in device performance in terms of pulse width and peak power in the recent years. However, it appears that the combination of high power and short pulses can cause some irreversible damage to the SESAM. The degradation mechanism, which can lead to a reduction of the VECSEL output power over time, is not fully understood and deserves to be investigated and alleviated in order to achieve stable mode-locking over long periods of time. It is particularly important for VECSEL systems meant to be commercialized, needing long term operation with a long product lifetime.
Here, we investigate the performance and robustness of a SESAM-modelocked VECSEL system under intense pulse intensity excitation. The effect of the degradation on the VECSEL performance is investigated using the SESAM in a VECSEL cavity supporting ultrashort pulses, while the degradation mechanism was investigated by exciting the SESAMs with an external femtosecond laser source. The decay of the photoluminescence (PL) and reflectivity under high excitation was monitored and the damaged samples were further analyzed using a thorough Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) analysis. It is found that the major contribution to the degradation is the field intensity and that the compositional damage is confined to the DBR region of the SESAM.
We present a novel Vertical External Cavity Surface Emitting Laser (VECSEL) cavity design which makes use of multiple interactions with the gain region under different angles of incidence in a single round trip. This design allows for optimization of the net, round-trip Group Delay Dispersion (GDD) by shifting the GDD of the gain via cavity fold angle while still maintaining the high gain of resonant structures. The effectiveness of this scheme is demonstrated with femtosecond-regime pulses from a resonant structure and record pulse energies for the VECSEL gain medium. In addition, we show that the interference pattern of the intracavity mode within the active region, resulting from the double-angle multifold, is advantageous for operating the laser in CW on multiple wavelengths simultaneously. Power, noise, and mode competition characterization is presented.
We present a passive and robust mode-locking scheme for a Vertical External Cavity Surface Emitting Laser (VECSEL).We placed the semiconductor gain medium and the semiconductor saturable absorber mirror (SESAM) strategically in a ring cavity to provide a stable colliding pulse operation. With this cavity geometry, the two counter propagating pulses synchronize on the SESAM to saturate the absorber together. This minimizes the energy lost and creates a transient carrier grating due to the interference of the two beams. The interaction of the two counter-propagating pulses in the SESAM is shown to extend the range of the modelocking regime and to enable higher output power when compared to the conventional VECSEL cavity geometry. In this configuration, we demonstrate a pulse duration of 195fs with an average power of 225mW per output beam at a repetition rate of 2.2GHz, giving a peak power of 460W per beam. The remarkable robustness of the modelocking regime is discussed and a rigorous pulse characterization is presented.
Recent development of high power femtosecond pulse modelocked VECSEL with gigahertz pulse repetition rates sparked an increased interest from the scientific community due to the broad field of applications for such sources, such as frequency metrology, high-speed optical communication systems or high-resolution optical sampling. To the best of our knowledge, we report for the first time a colliding pulse modelocked VECSEL, where the VECSEL gain medium and a semiconductor saturable absorber (SESAM) are placed inside a ring cavity. This cavity geometry provides both a practical and an efficient way to get optimum performance from a modelocked laser system. The two counter propagating pulses in our ring cavity synchronize in the SESAM because the minimum energy is lost when they saturate the absorber together. This stronger saturation of the absorber increases the stability of the modelocking and reduces the overall losses of the laser for a given intra-cavity fluence, leading to a lower modelocking threshold. This also allows the generation of fundamental modelocking at a relatively low repetition rate (<GHz) with a higher output power compared to conventional VECSEL cavity. We obtained a total output power of 2.2W with an excellent beam quality, a pulse repetition rate of 1GHz and a pulse duration ranging from 1ps to 3ps. The emitted spectrum was centered at 1007nm with a FWHM of 3.1nm, suggesting that shorter pulses can be obtained with adequate dispersion compensation. The laser characteristics such as the pulse duration and stability are studied in detail.
We demonstrate a low thermal impedance hybrid mirror VECSEL. We used only 14 pairs of AlGaAs/AlAs, transparent at the pump wavelength, and we used a patterned mask to deposit pure gold on areas of the chip to be pumped, and Ti/Au on other area to circumvent the poor adhesion of gold on GaAs. A higher gain is observed on an area metallized with pure gold and an output power of 4W was obtained, showing the effectiveness of the metallic mirror and validating the bonding quality. Chip processing and laser characteristics are studied in detail and compared to simulations.
We demonstrate the highest free running single frequency power from a single chip VECSEL reported to date, with more than 15W in continuous operation at room temperature. The GaAs-based structure presents an emission wavelength of 1020nm and a tuning range <15nm, with a continuous tunability of 9GHz. The TEM00 output beam exhibits very low transverse phase fluctuations across the entire mode, leading to a beam quality M2 <1.2. To identify and reduce the different sources of noise, the relative intensity noise and frequency noise spectral density are investigated and the intensity and the frequency of the laser were independently stabilized. The laser frequency is controlled and tuned varying the cavity length using a high bandwidth piezoelectric element while intensity fluctuations are reduced by varying the pump intensity. Intrinsic and stabilized frequency and intensity noise are compared.
We demonstrate a continuous wave, single frequency terahertz (THz) source based on parametric difference frequency generation within a nonlinear crystal located in an optical enhancement cavity. Two single-frequency VECSELs with emission wavelengths spaced by 6.8 nm are phase locked to the external cavity and are used as pump sources for the nonlinear down conversion. The emitting THz radiation is centered at 1.9 THz and has a linewidth of less than 100 kHz. The output power of the source exceeds 100 μW. We show that the THz source can be used as local oscillator to drive a receiver used in astronomy applications.
We report on our research in power scaling VECSEL around 1 μm to exceed 100W per chip. Recently, we have
utilized these optimized VECSEL chips to achieve a new record for a mode-locked VECSEL. The output power
of the laser was 3.4W. This corresponds to a pulse energy of 7.5nJ and a pulse peak power of 13.3kW. Both are
record values for a semiconductor laser in the femtosecond regime. These optimized structures have also been
used to demonstrate high power operation with a highly coherent TEM00 mode and to demonstrate a record
single frequency output power of 15W.
The antimonide based vertical external cavity surface emitting lasers (VECSELs) operating in the 1.8 to 2.8 Tm wavelength range are typically based on InGaAsSb/AlGaAsSb quantum wells on AlAsSb/GaSb distributed Bragg reflectors (DBRs) grown lattice-matched on GaSb substrates. The ability to grow such antimonide VECSEL structures on GaAs substrates can take advantage of the superior AlAs based etch-stop layers and mature DBR technology based on GaAs substrates. The growth of such III-Sb VECSELs on GaAs substrates is non-trivial due to the 7.78% lattice mismatch between the antimonide based active region and the GaAs/AlGaAs DBR. The challenge is therefore to reduce the threading dislocation density in the active region without a very thick metamorphic buffer and this is achieved by inducing 90 ° interfacial mist dislocation arrays between the GaSb and GaAs layers. In this presentation we make use of cross section transmission electron microscopy to analyze a variety of approaches to designing and growing III-Sb VECSELs on GaAs substrates to achieve a low threading dislocation density. We shall demonstrate the failure mechanisms in such growths and we analyze the extent to which the threading dislocations are able to permeate a thick active region. Finally, we present growth strategies and supporting results showing low-defect density III-Sb VECSEL active regions on GaAs.
This work consists in an in-depth analysis of the VeCSELs beam coherence thanks to the physical study of the
noise properties for both the frequency and the intensity of the optical beam.
The broad gain-bandwidth and the high output powers make vertical-external-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VECSELs) promising candidates as femtosecond laser sources. Besides an effective design of the gain structure, the major challenges for high power VECSELs are the thermal management of the chips as well as the homogeneity of the epitaxial growth. In this work, we present results of passively mode-locking of our highly efficient VECSELs and demonstrate femtosecond operation with record output powers and pulse energies. At a repetition rate of 1.7 GHz, we achieved nearly transform-limited pulses with 682 fs duration and an average output power exceeding 5 W.
We report on our research in power scaling OPSL around 1 μm to exceed 100W per chip by combining a rigorous quantum design of an optimized MQW epitaxial structure, highly accurate and reproducible wafer growth and an efficient thermal management strategy. Recently we have utilized these state-of-the-art optimized OPSL chips to achieve a new record for a mode-locked OPSL with an intra-cavity SESAM. The average output power of the laser in the optimum operation point of mode-locked operation was 5.1W while being pumped with 25W of net pump power. This corresponds to a pulse energy of 3 nJ and a pulse peak power of 3.8 kW.
We investigate experimentally and theoretically the influence of non-radiative carrier losses on the performance of
VECSELs under pulsed and CW pumping conditions. These losses are detrimental to the VECSEL performance
not only because they reduce the pump-power to output-power conversion efficiency and lead to increased
thresholds, but also because they are strong sources of heat. This heating reduces the achievable output power
and eventually leads to shut-off due to thermal roll-over. We investigate the two main sources of non-radiative
losses, defect recombination and Auger losses in InGaAs-based VECSELs for the 1010nm-1040nm range as well
as for InGaSb-based devices for operation around 2μm. While defect related losses are found to be rather
insignificant in InGaAs-based devices, they can be severe enough to prevent CW operation for the InGaSb-based
structures. Auger losses are shown to be very significant for both wavelengths regimes and it is discussed how
structural modifications can suppress them. For pulsed operation record output powers are demonstrated and
the influence of the pulse duration and shape is studied.
We present the design, technology and performances of a tunable Sb-based diode-pumped type-I quantum-well
vertical-external-cavity surface-emitting lasers emitting at 2.7μm. The half VCSEL structure was grown by MBE
with quantum-well growth temperature of 440 °C. The sample was thermally annealed to optimize the QW gain
design. We report on room-temperature continuous-wave laser with 0.17mW output power and low threshold
incident pump intensity of 0.7kW/cm2 while pumping at 830nm with a commercial diode laser. The external
cavity provides a circular TEM00 beam with a low divergence of 3.6°. The short mm-long optical cavity laser
exhibits tunable single frequency operation, with a side mode suppression ratio 23 dB, a linewidth 4GHz
and a linear light polarization. Thermal and optical properties are studied.
We demonstrate high power (multiwatt) low noise single frequency operation of tunable compact verical-external-
cavity surface-emitting-lasers exhibiting a low divergence high beam quality, of great interest for photonics
applications. The quantum-well based lasers are operating in CW at RT at 1μm and 2.3μm exploiting GaAs
and Sb technologies. For heat management purpose the VECSEL membranes were bonded on a SiC substrate.
Both high power diode pumping (using GaAs commercial diode) at large incidence angle and electrical pumping
are developed. The design and physical properties of the coherent wave are presented. We took advantage
of thermal lens-based stability to develop a short (0.5 < 5mm) external cavity without any intracavity filter.
We measured a low divergence circular TEM00 beam (M2 = 1.2) close to diffraction limit, with a linear light
polarization (> 30 dB). The side mode suppression ratio is > 45 dB. The free running laser linewidth is 37 kHz
limited by pump induced thermal fluctuations. Thanks to this high-Q external cavity approach, the frequency
noise is low and the dynamics is in the relaxation-oscillation-free regime, exhibiting low intensity noise (< 0.1%),
with a cutoff frequency > 41MHz above which the shot noise level is reached. The key parameters limiting the
laser power and coherence will be discussed. These design/properties can be extended to other wavelengths.
Access to the requested content is limited to institutions that have purchased or subscribe to SPIE eBooks.
You are receiving this notice because your organization may not have SPIE eBooks access.*
*Shibboleth/Open Athens users─please
sign in
to access your institution's subscriptions.
To obtain this item, you may purchase the complete book in print or electronic format on
SPIE.org.
INSTITUTIONAL Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.
PERSONAL Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.