We measure the complex-valued spatial coherence function of a multimode broad-area laser diode using Young's classical double slit experiment realized with a digital micromirror device. We use this data to construct the coherent modes of the beam and to simulate its propagation before and after the measurement plane. When comparing the results to directly measured intensity profiles, we find excellent correspondence to the extent that even small details of the beam can be predicted. We also consider the number of measurement points required to model the beam with sufficient accuracy.

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We study beaming properties of laser light produced by a plasmonic lattice overlaid with organic fluorescent molecules. The crossover from spontaneous emission regime to stimulated emission regime is observed in response to increasing pump fluence. This transition is accompanied by a strong reduction of beam divergence and emission linewidth due to increased degree of spatial and temporal coherence, respectively. The feedback for the lasing signal is shown to be mainly one-dimensional due to the dipolar nature of the surface lattice resonance. Consequently, the beaming properties along x and y directions are drastically different. From the measurements, we obtain the M 2 value along both principal directions of the square lattice as a function of the pump fluence. Our work provides the first detailed analysis of the beam quality in plasmonic lattice lasers and reveals the underlying physical origin of the observed strong polarization dependent asymmetry of the lasing signal.

We model the spatial coherence of broad-area laser diodes (BALDs) by representing the mutual intensity as superpositions of individually fully coherent but mutually uncorrelated fields. Consideration of spectroscopic modal structure measurements and intensity-based mode recovery shows that the standard Mercer-type coherent-mode expansion can lead to unsatisfactory results for real BALDs. However, we show that a so-called shifted elementary-field method provides a sufficiently accurate tool for spatial coherence and propagation modeling even if the modal structure of the BALD is severely distorted.

We consider a class of spatially partially coherent light beams, which are generated by passing a Gaussian Schell-model beam though a wavefront-folding interferometer. In certain cases these beams are shape-invariant on propagation and can exhibit sharp internal structure with a central peak (specular beam) or a central dip (antispecular beam) whose dimensions depend on the spatial coherence area. Such beams are demonstrated experimentally and their cross-like distributions of the complex degree of spatial coherence are measured with a digital micromirror device.