Laser oscillation in Yb:YAG waveguide beam-splitters with variable splitting ratio

In this Letter, we report on laser emission from Yb:YAG beam-splitters fabricated by direct femtosecond-laser inscription. These devices consist of two adjacent mirrored s-curved waveguides merged into a section allowing for multi-mode interference (MMI) and a straight waveguide. Nine-millimeter-long one-to-two beam-splitters with radii of curvature between 10 and 80 mm have been fabricated resulting in separations between the two arms of up to 0.65 mm. Due to the MMI-section, the splitting ratio was variable by slightly changing the incoupling conditions. Maximum laser output powers of 2.29 W and slope efficiencies of 52% were achieved with the best beam-splitter waveguide laser. For all radii of curvature exceeding 10 mm, similar efficiencies were demonstrated.