Pulsed high-power yellow-orange VECSEL

We report on the development of a pulsed high-power frequency doubled vertical-external-cavity surface-emitting laser (VECSEL) with a peak output power of 14 W and emission spectrum near 588 nm. The semiconductor gain chip was grown by molecular beam epitaxy and comprised 10 GaInAs quantum wells. The gain structure was designed to be antiresonant at 1180 nm. The fundamental wavelength was frequency doubled to the yellow-orange spectral range using a 10-mm long critically phase matched lithium triborate nonlinear crystal, situated at the mode waist of the V-shaped laser cavity. The emission spectrum was narrowed down to FWHM of < 0.2 nm by employing a 1.5 mm birefringent filter and a 100-μm-thick etalon inside the cavity. By directly modulating the pump laser of the VECSEL, we were able to produce pulse widths down to 570 ns with average and peak output power of 81 mW and 14 W, respectively. The repetition rate was kept constant at 10 kHz throughout the measurements. The maximum peak power obtained was pump power limited. In comparison, at the same coolant temperature, a maximum of 8.5 W was achieved in continuous wave. The maximum optical-to-optical conversion efficiency (absorbed peak pump power to peak output power) was calculated to be 20-21 %. © 2014 SPIE.