Improved 2nd harmonic rise-time in a thermal-lens-dominated extended-cavity micro-laser
Many commercially available compact, micro-cavity diode-pumped solid-state lasers achieve a stable resonator condition following the formation of an intra-cavity thermal lens. Typically, this thermal lens forms as a result of localized thermal expansion in the host material due to the very high optical power of the infrared pump beam. Additionally, most common DPSS host media, such as Nd:YAG and Nd:YVO4 exhibit high dn/dT, change in refractive index with temperature. Thermal lens formation time dominates stable resonator establishment and, thus, the rise-time of the intra-cavity-generated visible second-harmonic output light. Thermal lens formation time may range from 10's of microseconds to several milliseconds, depending on pump power, the host material dn/dT, and the volume and length of the host material. This paper describes a unique approach that improves the second-harmonic rise-time - and, thus, the modulation bandwidth - for high-power VECSELs by several orders of magnitude. This approach, while typically used in some laser systems for other purposes, allows direct modulation of high-power VECSELs to greater than 100 megahertz with second-harmonic rise-time of a few nanoseconds.
RGB Laser Light Sources for Projection Displays
We report on high power RGB laser light sources made from vertically-emitting intracavity-doubled lasers. The novel light sources open the door to a completely new viewing experience of digital display content.
Visible laser and laser array sources for projection displays
Laser-based projection displays have long attracted interest because of the multiple advantages (expanded color gamut, high resolution, longer lifetime, etc.) expected from lasers as compared to lamps. However, most of these advantages have been largely negated by the significant cost, size, and cooling requirements associated with lasers, and their inability to produce red, green, and blue colors in the same platform. In this paper, we review a new, laser array technology based of frequency-doubled, semiconductor, surface-emitting lasers. The key features of this technology, such as demonstrated multi-Watt output for rear-projection TVs, power levels scalable with the number of emitters, speckle suppression due to multi-emitter array, and a low-cost and compact design are discussed in detail.