External-Cavity Surface-Emitting InGaAs/InP MQW Laser:High Powers and Subpicosecond Pulses

We have demonstrated an external-cavity surface-emitting semiconductor laser (EX-SEL), obtaining pulses as short as 710 fsec and peak powers as high as 64 W (after compression). A surface-emitting semiconductor laser (SEL) lacks the beam quality problems associated with cleaved-cavity lasers, and can be used to generate high output powers. Previous work with a SEL has produced 120 mW of CW power. Gain-switching of a SEL has yielded 3.9 psec pulses 2. To produce shorter pulses, mode-locking in an external cavity has been proved to be advantageous. For example, an external-cavity edge-emitting laser produced 580 fsec pulses at average powers of 1.4 mW 3. Hybrid mode-locking techniques combined with amplification and pulse-compression have resulted in 560 fsec pulses, average powers of 6.5 mW, and peak powers of 38 W 4. This paper describes mode-locking of an SEL in an external cavity. This article is from 'Organization of the Optical Society of America Photonic Science Topical Meeting Series. Volume 7. Quantum Optoelectronics Held in Salt Lake City, Utah on 11-13 March 1991,' AD-A253 823, p236-239.