Design and Simulation of Next-Generation High-Power, High-Brightness Laser Diodes
Abstract
High-brightness laser diode technology is a highly dynamic field, which is strongly driven by the rapidly evolving and highly competitive applications markets. The large volume resonators required for high-power, high-brightness operation are known to make their beam parameters and brightness sensitive to thermal and carrier induced lensing and also to multimode operation. However, power and beam quality are no longer the only concerns for the design of high-brightness laser diodes. The increased demand for this technology has been accompanied by a range of new performance requirements, including a wider range of wavelengths, direct electrical modulation, spectral purity and stability, and phase-locking techniques for coherent beam combining. This paper explores some (but, by no means all) of the next-generation technologies being pursued for these applications, simultaneously illustrating the growing importance of advanced simulation and design tools. As the simulation tools become more complex, so does their experimental validation and the calibration of the simulation parameters. The paper begins by investigating the brightness limitations of broad-area laser diodes. Next, more advanced technologies are considered, including: two-contact tapered lasers for direct modulation of the output beam; self-organising cavity lasers for efficient generation of a beam with a high spatial and spectral power density; asymmetric feedback broad-area lasers with a dramatically improved beam parameter product; and a phase-locked high-brightness array using an external Talbot cavity.
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