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Edge-emitting Semiconductor Lasers

Definition: semiconductor lasers emitting light along the plane of the wafer

Alternative term: in-plane lasers

More general term: semiconductor lasers

German: kantenemittierende Halbleiterlaser

Category: lasers

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Semiconductor lasers can be grouped into two classes:

broad area laser diode
Figure 1: Edge-emitting semiconductor laser.

Edge-emitting lasers are the original and still very widely used form of semiconductor lasers. Their resonator length is typically between a few hundred micrometers and a few millimeters. This is sufficient for reaching a high gain, so that an edge-emitting laser may lase even if the resonator losses are fairly high, e.g. when the end faces (edges) are not coated and there is only the Fresnel reflection of the semiconductor/air interfaces.

Within the edge-emitting laser structure, the laser beam is guided in a waveguide structure. Typically, one uses a double heterostructure, which restricts the generated carriers to a narrow region and at the same time serves as a waveguide for the optical field. This arrangement leads to a low threshold pump power and a high efficiency. Depending on the waveguide properties, particularly its transverse dimensions, it is possible either to obtain an output with high beam quality but limited output power (some hundreds of milliwatts), or (with a broad-area laser diode) an output with high output power (tens of watts or even > 100 W) but with poor beam quality.

Questions and Comments from Users

2020-05-14

Are ruby lasers edge emitting?

Answer from the author:

No – this concept has been developed for semiconductor lasers, not for bulk lasers like ruby lasers.

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See also: semiconductor lasers, laser diodes, broad area laser diodes, surface-emitting semiconductor lasers
and other articles in the category lasers

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