Modal discrimination in leaky-mode (antiguided) arrays [diode lasers]

Author

Hadley, G. Ronald ; Botez, Dan ; Mawst, Luke J.

Author_Institution

Sandia Nat. Lab., Albuquerque, NM, USA

Volume

27

Issue

4

fYear

1991

fDate

4/1/1991 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

921

Lastpage

930

Abstract

Presents on the fabrication of a ten-element antiguided (leaky-mode) diode laser array that operates in an in-phase mode with a diffraction-limited far-field pattern at drive currents up to 8.7 times the threshold current (pulsed) and an output power of 400 mW (both facets). This device evidences good discrimination against the out-of-phase leaky mode without the benefit of a `Talbot´ spatial filter, relying instead on mode-sensitive interelement losses in an overlying GaAs layer. This device has been studied using two numerical models. Results from the more realistic of the two models predict in-phase-mode operation for certain restricted ranges of waveguide dielectric constant, in agreement with experiment. This behavior is shown to result from resonances between the waveguide modes and the modes of the active region. These results suggest that improved yields would result from a different type of leaky-mode array employing smaller, rectangularly shaped waveguides

Keywords

laser modes; optical waveguide theory; optical waveguides; optical workshop techniques; semiconductor laser arrays; 400 mW; active region; diffraction-limited far-field pattern; diode laser arrays; drive currents; in-phase mode; in-phase-mode operation; leaky-mode antiguided array fabrication; mode-sensitive interelement losses; numerical models; out-of-phase leaky mode; overlying GaAs layer; rectangularly shaped waveguides; threshold current; waveguide dielectric constant; waveguide modes; Diffraction; Diode lasers; Gallium arsenide; Optical arrays; Optical device fabrication; Optical pulses; Power generation; Semiconductor laser arrays; Spatial filters; Threshold current;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Quantum Electronics, IEEE Journal of

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9197

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/3.83327

Filename

83327