Monolithic VECSEL for stable kHz linewidth

Vertical-external-cavity surface-emitting semiconductor lasers (VECSELs) are of increasing interest for applications requiring ultra-coherence and/or low noise at novel wavelengths; performance that is currently achieved via high-Q, air-spaced resonators to achieve long intra-cavity photon lifetimes...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Optics express 2023-11, Vol.31 (23), p.38786-38797
Main Authors: Lee, Martin, Moriya, Paulo Hisao, Hastie, Jennifer E.
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:Vertical-external-cavity surface-emitting semiconductor lasers (VECSELs) are of increasing interest for applications requiring ultra-coherence and/or low noise at novel wavelengths; performance that is currently achieved via high-Q, air-spaced resonators to achieve long intra-cavity photon lifetimes (for the so-called class-A low noise regime), power scaling and high beam quality. Here, we report on the development of a compact, electronically tunable, monolithic-cavity , class-A VECSEL (monolithic VECSEL) for ultra-narrow free-running linewidths. A multi-quantum-well, resonant periodic gain structure with integrated distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) was optically-bonded to an air-gap-free laser resonator created inside a right-angle fused-silica prism to suppress the influence of environmental noise on the external laser oscillation, thus achieving high stability. Mode-hop-free wavelength tuning is performed via the stabilized temperature; or electronically, and with low latency, via a shear piezo-electric transducer mounted on the top of the prism. The free-running linewidth, estimated via the frequency power spectral density (PSD), is sub-kHz over ms timescales and
ISSN:1094-4087
1094-4087
DOI:10.1364/OE.490046