Abstract

The basic requirements for obtaining high CW output powers from monolithic diode lasers will be presented and discussed. Means for increasing the diodes’ wallplug efficiencies as well as reliable output powers will be covered. How to achieve stable, high (spatially) coherent powers will be treated for two device types: conventional waveguides and active photonic lattices. While most high-power devices are edge emitters, two-dimensional grating-surface-emitters are ideally suited for extracting watt-range coherent powers from semiconductors as well as for scalability at the wafer level, thus holding the potential for tens of watts of coherent power from monolithic sources.

© 2003 Optical Society of America