Abstract

In recent years, considerable effort has been directed towards the development of high-power gain-guided diode laser arrays.¹ Modeling of these devices has proceeded mostly along the lines of coupled-mode theory,² assuming near-threshold conditions so as to render the problem linear. Only very recently have self-consistent model appeared that do not rely on assumptions about inter-stripe coupling.^3-6 The successes of these models include the simulation of beam steering of gain-guided arrays by injection locking,⁴ and the prediction of eigenmodes of these arrays of order higher than the number of stripes.^5,6 We present here the results of calculations of the eigenmodes of a ten-stripe gain-guided diode laser array, performed with a numerical model which treats the array as a broad-area resonator.⁴ Our model includes the effects of electron diffusion in the active region, gain saturation, and index anti-guiding. We show that the addition of junction heating to the model has a profound effect on both the near- and far-field profiles of the eigenmodes and their modal gains. Indeed, junction heating effects are largely responsible for the appearance of high-order modes in the cw operation of gain-guided arrays.

© 1987 Optical Society of America