Optical in-well pumping of a vertical-external-cavity surface-emitting laser

A scheme is demonstrated for optical pumping of a vertical-external-cavity surface-emitting laser. The scheme is based on absorption of the pump light within the wells of the multiple-quantum-well gain structure rather than the conventional approach of absorption of a shorter wavelength in the barrier regions. The operation of a laser around 850 nm pumped by an 808 nm source demonstrates the potential of this technique for allowing operation at a significantly shorter range of wavelengths for these devices in general and specific application of high-brightness pump lasers for devices in this spectral region. A further advantage is the smaller quantum defect which results in reduced heating of the gain medium. These advantages are achieved while maintaining a slope efficiency of up to 18%, which is comparable to results obtained with a traditional pumping scheme with a similar gain medium.