Abstract
Considerable effort has been recently focused on the development of coherent laser sources for applications which require high output powers such as free-space communications systems. Broad-area lasers have been proposed as possible candidates because they have wider injection regions than conventional lasers, so a large amount of stimulated photons can be generated. However, both the lack of guiding control of the optical mode and the spatial hole burning effect favor the simultaneous oscillation of severa1 lateral modes when the laser is driven higher above threshold [1,2]. As a consequence, the output beam profile develops filamentation [3] which limits the operativity of these lasers devices. A reduction in the number of excited lateral modes is desirable in order to increase the spectral purity and spatial coherence of such lasers. Operation in the fundamental single-lobe lateral mode can provide spatially-coherent diffraction-limited high-power laser sources, but it requires a control mechanism of the excited lateral modes in these devices.
© 1996 Optical Society of America
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