High-brightness distributed-bragg-reflector tapered diode lasers: pushing your application to the next level

C. Fiebig^a, S. Pekarek^b, K. Paschke^a, M. Uebernickel^a, T. Südmeyer^b, U. Keller^b, and G. Erbert^a

^a Ferdinand-Braun-Institut, Leibniz-Institut für Höchstfrequenztechnik, Gustav-Kirchhoff-Strasse 4, 12489 Berlin, Germany
^b Department of Physics, Institute of Quantum Electronics, ETH Zurich, 8093 Zurich, Switzerland

Published in:
Proc. SPIE, vol. 7918, no. 79180R (2011).
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Abstract:
We demonstrate monolithic distributed-Bragg-reflector tapered diode lasers having an output power up to 12 W, a small spectral width of below Δλ<10 pm and a beam quality close to the diffraction limit. This results in a brightness close to 1 GWcm^-2sr^-1. Due to these excellent electro-optical characteristics we achieved visible laser light up to P=1.8 W in a single-path second harmonic generation experiment. This allowed us to develop compact Watt-class (P=1.1 W) visible laser modules having an excellent beam quality (M²<3) with a narrow spectrum (Δλ<30 pm). The entire device is integrated on a micro-optical bench with a volume below 20 cm³. In another application we demonstrate for the first time a femtosecond gigahertz SESAM-modelocked Yb:KGW laser. Such a laser system benefits from the small spectral emission and the focusability of the developed diode laser. A record peak power of 3.9 kW was achived. At the repetition rate of 1 GHz, 281 fs pulses with an average output power of 1.1 W were generated. This Yb:KGW laser has a high potential for stable frequency comb generation.

Keywords:
Distributed-Bragg-Reflector tapered diode laser, SHG, SESAM, modelocked, Yb:KGW, frequency comb.

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