We compare the heat extraction efficiency for a standard Vertical External Cavity Surface-Emitting Laser and the distributed Bragg reflector (DBR)-free structure employing a single and double diamond heat-spreaders, respectively. Both heterostructures grown by Molecular Beam Epitaxy employ two identical active regions designed for emission at 980 nm. We show that the thermal resistance has been decreased 15 times when there is no DBR and heat is extracted from both side of active region. For DBR-free laser no thermal rollover of power conversion characteristic was observed in the range of considered input powers.

We fabricated and characterized a membrane external-cavity surface-emitting laser (MECSEL) emitting at 1640 nm. This is the first, to the best of our knowledge, description of this type of laser emitting at the long-wavelength telecommunication band. Double-sided diamond heat spreaders were used to efficiently dissipate heat. Emission producing 1.2 W of power was demonstrated. We suggest that optimization of the laser has the potential to increase generated power.

We report on a wide tunability of an optically pumped semiconductor Vertical External Cavity Surface- Emitting Laser (VECSEL) with a unique two-mode resonant microcavity. Using only high-reflectivity mirrors in the resonator and controlling the active region temperature by readjustment of pump power and heat extraction, we have demonstrated a record 95 nm wavelength-tuning range. Laser center wavelength was 985 nm.

An InGaAlAs/InP membrane external-cavity surface-emitting laser (MECSEL) operating at 1770 nm is reported for the first time. A record high power of 7.7 W is registered at -20°C. This is the record high emission power registered for any surface emitting InGaAlAs-based semiconductor laser at a wavelength longer than 1480 nm. A power value of 3.5 W is measured at 20 °C. The lasing is observed up to 60 °C. The high-power emission is achieved due to lateral and longitudinal power scaling realized by enlarging the pump spot diameter to $400~\mu \text{m}$ and the double-side pumping (DSP) of a single chip of extended thickness. We analyze the thermal properties and evaluate the temperature inside the laser membrane. We present the characteristic temperature (T0) as a function of temperature. The T0 is measured to be 70 K at -20°C and 26 K at 55 °C. Our data support the explanation that the increase in the maximum power of the DSP MECSEL originates from an improvement in the thermal properties rather than from more uniform carrier injection into the quantum wells.

We report the first experimental parametric analysis of subwavelength monolithic high-contrast grating (MHCG) mirrors. To date, subwavelength grating mirrors have been fabricated by suspending a thin grating membrane in the air or placing it on a low refractive index material – a scheme that requires sophisticated processing and makes the gratings sensitive to mechanical stress, impeding current injection, and heat dissipation if used in active devices. Inherently MHCGs are well suited for optoelectronic devices because they can be fabricated in all possible material systems. Here we demonstrate above 90% optical power reflectance, strong polarization discrimination. Based on experimental analysis aided by numerical simulations, we demonstrate the possibility of tuning the spectral characteristics of MHCGs reflectance for more than 200 nm via modification of the duty cycle of the MHCG stripes. We show our MHCG tuning method is convenient to define the properties of MHCG devices during the device processing.

Highly reflective mirrors are indispensable components in a variety of state‐of‐the‐art photonic devices. Typically used, bulky, multi‐layered distributed Bragg (DBR) reflectors are limited to lattice‐matched semiconductors or nonconductive dielectrics. Here, we introduce an inverted refractive index‐contrast grating (ICG) as compact, single‐layer alternative to DBR. In the ICG, a subwavelength one‐dimensional grating made of a low‐refractive‐index material is implemented on a high‐refractive‐index cladding. Our numerical simulations show that the ICG provides nearly total optical power reflectance for the light incident from the side of the cladding whenever the refractive index of the grating exceeds 1.75, irrespective of the refractive index of the cladding. Additionally, the ICG enables polarization discrimination and phase tuning of the reflected and transmitted light, the property not achievable with the DBR. We experimentally demonstrate a proof‐of‐concept ICG fabricated according to the proposed design, using the technique of sub‐µm 3D laser lithography in which thin stripes of IP‐Dip photoresist are micro‐printed on a Si cladding. This one‐step method avoids laborious and often destructive etching‐based procedures for grating structuration, making it possible to implement the grating on any arbitrary cladding material.