Bright parabolic bow-tie laser arrays

Semiconductor optical sources that provide high power in a diffraction-limited beam (high brightness) are required for various applications, such as fibre amplifier pump sources, free-space links, dentistry, materials processing. The two most important issues that must be considered in the design of high-power high-brightness semiconductor (S/C) optical sources are catastrophic optical damage (COD) and filamentation of the optical field. Hence, it is indispensable to accurately design both the S/C multilayer material structure and the geometry of the laser cavity to achieve the desired operational characteristics. In addition, device manufacturing costs, packaging complexity (e.g., expensive external micro-optics systems) and tolerance constraints are significant features that have to be taken into account for future device developments. © 2003 IEEE.