Performance changes of a vertical‐external‐cavity surfaceemitting laser by an intra‐cavity anti‐reflex‐coating

Abstract

The influence of an intra‐cavity anti‐reflection coating on the switch‐on dynamics and the power input‐output characteristic of a vertical‐external‐cavity surface‐emitting laser (VECSEL) system are investigated. The experiments show a significantly higher threshold and slower switch‐on dynamics for anti‐reflection coated systems.These differences originate in the changes in the mode strength at the active medium due to the more or less pronounced sub‐cavity. The presented simulations based on microscopic calculations are in good qualitatively agreement with the experiments. (© 2009 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)