Thermal lensing in high-power ridge-waveguide lasers

Published in:
Opt. Quantum Electron., vol. 40, no. 5-6, pp. 379-384 (2008).
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Abstract:
The lateral farfield characteristics of ridge-waveguide (RW) lasers emitting around 1,064 nm with an output power of 1.3 W at an injection current of 2 A were measured and modeled. Due to trenches with widths between 2.5 and 20 µm defining the narrow RW, radiation leaks out into the outer regions which suppresses higher-order modes, but which can also lead to a double-peaked lateral farfield of the fundamental mode. A simple model taking into account the thermal lensing effect explains well the lateral farfield behavior observed.

Keywords:
Semiconductor lasers - High power lasers - Ridge waveguide lasers

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