High performance 2.2um optically-pumped vertical external-cavity surface-emitting laser

We report the operation of an optically-pumped vertical-external-cavity surface-emitting laser (OP-VECSEL) oscillating at wavelengths up to 2.2 µm and at output powers greater than 200 mW. This versatile platform provides a broad gain bandwidth, and may be tuned and/or controlled by the addition of elements into the external cavity. Moreover, the nature of the semiconductor structure permits precise engineering of the operating wavelength---not possible with traditional solid state crystalline lasers---and the thin (few microns) pump absorption region, coupled with the external cavity control, permits the mode conversion of a low brightness pump into a high quality TEM00 output.