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Patent Number: |
7469002 |
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Case ID: |
0 |
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Patent Title:
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Mid-infrared optically pumped unstable resonator laser
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Status: |
ACTIVE |
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Status Date: |
6/8/2009 4:05:59 PM |
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Issue Date:
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12/23/2008 |
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Filed Date:
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8/28/2006 |
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Serial #:
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1/467,602 |
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Assignee Name:
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The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Air Force
(Washington,
DC)
N/A
(
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Inventor(s):
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Ongstad, Andrew , Kaspi, Ron , Dente, Greg , Tilton, Michael , Chavez, Joseph R. |
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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates generally to high-power, mid-IR optically pumped unstable resonator lasers and in particular to a means to produce a high-power output while maintaining a near diffraction-limited beam.
High power optically pumped mid-IR lasers have been demonstrated with peak powers in the 5 to 15 W range, CW powers in excess of 2 W, and lasing wavelengths in the 2 to 10 micron region. However, these broad area lasers typically display
degraded beam quality as the pump intensity is increased; they may go from 2-3 times diffraction limited near threshold to 8-15 times diffraction-limited at .about.30 times threshold. This limits the devices applicability since it becomes difficult to
couple the radiation into a small numerical aperture fiber or to focus the radiation in the far field. There are a large number of applications that would directly benefit from high power mid-IR output in a nearly diffraction limited beam. These
applicat . . . . More |
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A high-powered mid-IR antimonide-based unstable resonator semiconductor
laser that is optically pumped. One Fabry-Perot facet is a mechanically
polished cylindrical mirror that extends well into the GaSb substrate.
The waveguide is designed to weakly confine the transverse optical mode,
and the optical pump stripe width can be varied to optimize the cavity
width for high brightness operation.
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The invention claimed is:
1. A high-power unstable resonator semiconductor laser that is optically-pumped with an optical pump stripe width, said laser comprising an antimonide-based
mid-infrared Fabry-Perot quantum well laser chip comprised of a GaSb substrate, an active region, an upper cladding, and a protective cap; a mechanically polished cylindrical mirror facet at one end of said Fabry-Perot chip, whereby an unstable
resonator is produced; a waveguide in which the transverse optical mode is weakly confined; and a wide cavity width defined by said optical pump stripe width.
2. The laser of claim 1, wherein said cylindrical mirror facet extends into said GaSb substrate.
3. The laser of claim 2, wherein said cylindrical mirror facet extends at least 10 microns into said GaSb substrate.
4. A high-power unstable resonator semiconductor laser that is optically-pumped with an optical pump stripe width, said laser comprising an antimonide-based . . . . More |
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