Efficient upconversion pumping at 1.064 mu m Tm/sup 3+/-doped fluoride fibre laser operating around 1.47 mu m

1.064 mu m upconversion pumping was used to operate a highly efficient CW and Q-switched thulium (Tm/sup 3+/)-doped fluoride fibre laser at around 1.47 mu m. The maximum CW output power was 100 mW for a launched pump power of 570 mW. The threshold power was 200 mW, the slope efficiency 27% and the wavelength width 20 nm. A peak power of 70 W was generated for Q-switching at a launched pump power of 300 mW.<>     

High-power continuous-wave operation of quantum-cascade lasers up to 60/spl deg/C

High-temperature high-power continuous-wave (CW) operation of high-reflectivity-coated 12-/spl mu/m-wide quantum-cascade lasers emitting at /spl lambda/ = 6 /spl mu/m with a thick electroplated Au top contact layer is reported for different cavity lengths. For a 3-mm-long laser, the CW optical output powers of 381 mW at 293 K and 22 mW at maximum operating temperature of 333 K (60/spl deg/C) are achieved with threshold current densities of 1.93 and 3.09 kA/cm/sup 2/, respectively. At 298 K, the same cavity gives a maximum wall plug efficiency of 3.17% at 1.07 A. An even higher CW optical output power of 424 mW at 293 K is obtained for a 4-mm-long laser and the device also operates up to 332 K with an output power of 14 mW. Thermal resistance is also analyzed at threshold as a function of cavity length.     

THz-dual-frequency Yb/sup 3+/:KGd(WO/sub 4/)/sub 2/ laser for continuous wave THz generation through photomixing

A diode-pumped KGd(WO/sub 4/)/sub 2/ Yb/sup 3+/ doped laser has been developed for CW-THz generation. The frequency difference between the two modes is step tunable from DC to 3.1 THz. A maximum total optical output power of 120 mW CW has been obtained with a beat note linewidth narrower than 30 kHz.     

Room-temperature continuous-wave laser operation of electrically-pumped 1.55 /spl mu/m VECSEL

A report is presented on room-temperature (RT) continuous-wave (CW) laser emission at 1.55 /spl mu/m of an all InP-based electrically-pumped vertical external-cavity surface-emitting laser (EP-VECSEL). Threshold currents of 1.4 kA/cm/sup 2/ and output powers of up to 0.3 mW were measured under CW operation at RT. A maximum output power of 2.7 mW has been obtained in quasi-CW operation at a heatsink temperature of 10.5/spl deg/C. This first result demonstrates that EP-VECSELs are a potential candidate for the realisation of compact vertical-cavity emitting sources.     

Microwave operation of high power InGaP/GaAs heterojunction bipolar transistors

The first high power demonstration of an InGaP/GaAs heterojunction bipolar transistor is presented. Multifinger selfaligned HBTs were tested at 3 GHz. A maximum output power of 2.82 W CW was obtained for a 600 mu m/sup 2/ emitter area device (4.7 mW/ mu m/sup 2/ power density) with an attendant gain of 6.92 dB; simultaneously, the device exhibited 55.2% power added efficiency, 69.1% collector efficiency and 8.0*10/sup 4/ A/cm/sup 2/ emitter current density.<>     

High gain, broadband, 1.6 mu m Er/sup 3+/ doped silica fibre amplifier

Results demonstrating small signal gain in excess of 25 dB between 1.57 mu m and 1.61 mu m in Er/sup 3+/ doped silica fibre pumped at 1.55 mu m are presented. An optimum small signal gain of 0.33 dB per mW of pump power and a saturated output of 45 mW for 160 mW of pump power have been achieved.<>     

具有线性GRIN结构GaAs/AlGaAs单量子阱激光器

采用ＭＯＣＶＤ 方法成功地研制了具有线性ＧＲＩＮ 结构ＧａＡｓ／ＡｌＧａＡｓ单量子阱激光器。该激光器的峰值波长为８１５～８２５ ｎｍ ,阈值电流为１３０ ｍ Ａ。工作电流在４８０ ｍ Ａ 时,单面连续输出光功率高达２００ ｍ Ｗ,且基本保持在单模工作状态。工作在９７０ ｍ Ａ 时,单面连续输出光功率为０．５ Ｗ。     

Ridge-width dependence on high-temperature continuous-wave quantum-cascade laser operation

We report continuous-wave (CW) operation of quantum-cascade lasers (/spl lambda/=6 /spl mu/m) up to a temperature of 313 K (40/spl deg/C). The maximum CW optical output powers range from 212 mW at 288 K to 22 mW at 313 K and are achieved with threshold current densities of 2.21 and 3.11 kA/cm/sup 2/, respectively, for a high-reflectivity-coated 12-/spl mu/m-wide and 2-mm-long laser. At room temperature (298 K), the power output is 145 mW at 0.87 A, corresponding to a power conversion efficiency of 1.68%. The maximum CW operating temperature of double-channel ridge waveguide lasers mounted epilayer-up on copper heatsinks is analyzed in terms of the ridge width, which is varied between 12 and 40 /spl mu/m. A clear trend of improved performance is observed as the ridge narrows.     

Diode laser pumped Er/sup 3+/ fibre laser operation between 2.7-2.8 mu m

CW laser operation in the 2.7-2.8 mu m region has been observed in Er/sup 3+/ doped fluorozircoaluminate glass fibres by diode laser pumping at 0.8 mu m. An absorbed threshold power of 10 mW and an output laser power of 2.1 mW with a slope efficiency of 8% were obtained.<>     

Continuous-wave operation of GaInAs-AlGaAsSb quantum cascade lasers

We report on the demonstration of continuous-wave (CW) operation of GaInAs-AlGaAsSb quantum cascade (QC) lasers. By placing a 2.5-/spl mu/m-thick gold layer on both sides of the laser ridge to extract heat from the active region in the lateral direction, together with mounting the device epilayer down, we have achieved CW operation of GaInAs-AlGaAsSb QC lasers composed of 25 stages of active/injection regions. The maximum CW operating temperature of the lasers is 94 K, and the emission wavelength is around /spl lambda//spl sim/4.65 /spl mu/m. For a device with the size of 10/spl times/2000 /spl mu/m/sup 2/, the CW optical output power per facet is 13 mW at 42 K and 4 mW at 94 K. The CW threshold current density is 1.99 kA/cm/sup 2/ at 42 K, and 2.08 kA/cm/sup 2/ at 94 K, respectively.     

High-temperature operation of InGaAs strained quantum-well lasers

Strained-layer quantum-well (SQW) laser structures have been investigated for avionics applications requiring high-temperature performance. The authors have successfully demonstrated InGaAs-GaAs SQW lasers capable of CW operation up to 200 degrees C with more than 5 mW single-mode optical power. These lasers have an emission wavelength of approximately=980 nm, threshold current density of 200 A/cm/sup 2/, differential quantum efficiency of 60%, high output power of approximately=1 W with 50 mu m stripe, and characteristic temperature of 130-140 K.<>     

Nd/sup 3+/-doped single mode fibre superfluorescent source with 320 mW output power

A diode array pumped Nd/sup 3+/-doped superfluorescent fibre source with 320 mW output power and a 4.6 nm FWHM bandwidth centred at 1058 mu m is reported. The device is prevented from lasing off reflected light from Rayleigh backscatter by seeding an Nd/sup 3+/-doped fibre amplifier with a primary superfluorescent source of moderate power.<>     

Short wavelength (/spl lambda//spl sim/4.3 /spl mu/m) high-performance continuous-wave quantum-cascade lasers

We report continuous-wave (CW) operation of a 4.3-/spl mu/m quantum-cascade laser from 80 K to 313 K. For a high-reflectivity-coated 11-/spl mu/m-wide and 4-mm-long laser, CW output powers of 1.34 W at 80 K and 26 mW at 313 K are achieved. At 298 K, the CW threshold current density of 1.5 kA/cm/sup 2/ is observed with a CW output power of 166 mW and maximum wall-plug efficiency of 1.47%. The CW emission wavelength varies from 4.15 /spl mu/m at 80 K to 4.34 /spl mu/m at 298 K, corresponding to a temperature-tuning rate of 0.87 nm/K. The beam full-width at half-maximum values for the parallel and the perpendicular far-field patterns are 26/spl deg/ and 49/spl deg/ in CW mode, respectively.     

Low-threshold continuous-wave 1.5-/spl mu/m GaInNAsSb lasers grown on GaAs

We present the first continuous-wave (CW) edge-emitting lasers at 1.5 /spl mu/m grown on GaAs by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). These single quantum well (QW) devices show dramatic improvement in all areas of device performance as compared to previous reports. CW output powers as high as 140 mW (both facets) were obtained from 20 /spl mu/m /spl times/ 2450 /spl mu/m ridge-waveguide lasers possessing a threshold current density of 1.06 kA/cm/sup 2/, external quantum efficiency of 31%, and characteristic temperature T/sub 0/ of 139 K from 10/spl deg/C-60/spl deg/C. The lasing wavelength shifted 0.58 nm/K, resulting in CW laser action at 1.52 /spl mu/m at 70/spl deg/C. This is the first report of CW GaAs-based laser operation beyond 1.5 /spl mu/m. Evidence of Auger recombination and intervalence band absorption was found over the range of operation and prevented CW operation above 70/spl deg/C. Maximum CW output power was limited by insufficient thermal heatsinking; however, devices with a highly reflective (HR) coating applied to one facet produced 707 mW of pulsed output power limited by the laser driver. Similar CW output powers are expected with more sophisticated packaging and further optimization of the gain region. It is expected that such lasers will find application in next-generation optical networks as pump lasers for Raman amplifiers or doped fiber amplifiers, and could displace InP-based lasers for applications from 1.2 to 1.6 /spl mu/m.     

Highly reliable 60/spl deg/C 50-mW operation of 650-nm band window-mirror laser diodes

High-power GaInP QW laser diodes with a window-mirror-structure lasing at a wavelength of around 650 nm have been fabricated. The maximum light output power over 150 mW has been realized without optical mirror damage. In addition, the laser shows the fundamental-mode-operation at 50 mW and the dynamic characteristics sufficient for recordable digital versatile disc (DVD) applications. The lasers have been operating for 2000 h under the condition of CW, 50 mW, and 60/spl deg/C, for the first time.     

Passive Q-switching of an intracavity frequency doubled diode-pumped Nd:YVO/sub 4//KTP green laser with Cr/sup 4+/:YAG

A compact diode-pumped green-pulse laser has been demonstrated by using Cr/sup 4+/:YAG as a saturable absorber in a simple cavity formed by a coated Nd:YVO/sub 4/ crystal and a coated KTP crystal. When continuous-wave (CW) pumped with a fiber-coupled laser diode, the laser produces green pulses of 20-35-ns duration at 532 nm, with a repetition rate of 15-70 kHz. The highest green peak power was 80.8 W, obtained at 1.2 W of pump power, which is 320 times enhancement in comparison to a green output power of 250 mW under CW.     

Laser-diode-array end-pumped 8.2-W CW Nd : GdVO/sub 4/ laser at 1.34 /spl mu/m

A laser-diode-array end-pumped 0.3-at.% Nd-doped GdVO/sub 4/ high-power continuous-wave (CW) laser operating at 1.34 /spl mu/m has been demonstrated. The maximum CW output power of 8.23 W was obtained at the incident pump power of 27.9 W, giving the corresponding optical conversion efficiency of 29.5% and the average slope efficiency of 30.2%. Two Nd : GdVO/sub 4/ crystals with Nd/sup 3+/ concentration of 0.5 and 1.14 at.% were also investigated for the comparison to show the advantage of lowly Nd-doped crystals applied to high-power lasers.     

Amplification in Pr/sup 3+/-doped fluorozirconate optical fibre at 632.8 nm

Amplification in Pr/sup 3+/-doped fluorozirconate optical fibre is reported at the 632.8 nm He-Ne wavelength. Gross gains up to 11 dB have been achieved in a 1.4 m length using a launched pump power of 315 mW at 476.5 nm. Measurements of extinction at pump and signal wavelengths indicate that significantly improved performance can be expected using a much shorter length of fibre.<>     

Continuous-wave operation of quantum cascade laser emitting near 5.6 /spl mu/m

Buried heterostructure quantum cascade lasers emitting at 5.64 /spl mu/m are presented. Continuous-wave (CW) operation has been achieved at -30/spl deg/C for junction down mounted devices with both facets coated. A 750 /spl mu/m-long laser exhibited 3 mW of CW power with a threshold current density of 5.4 kA/cm/sup 2/.     

High-power 0.98 mu m GaInAs strained quantum well lasers for Er/sup 3+/-doped fibre amplifier

High-power GaInAs strained quantum well lasers with an emission wavelength of 0.98 mu m, suitable for Er/sup 3+/-doped fibre amplifier pumping, have been fabricated. A threshold current of 15 mA and a peak output power as high as 85 mW have been obtained for the ridge waveguide structure with AR/HR facet coating. Highly efficient pumping for the 1.536 mu m signals has been confirmed.<>