Coherence radius and mode size of a broad-area vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser in the incoherent emission regime

Gordon Craggs; Guy Verschaffelt; Michael Peeters; Shyam K. Mandre; Ingo Fischer

doi:10.1117/12.781240

8 May 2008 Coherence radius and mode size of a broad-area vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser in the incoherent emission regime

Gordon Craggs, Guy Verschaffelt, Michael Peeters, Shyam K. Mandre, Ingo Fischer

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 6997, Semiconductor Lasers and Laser Dynamics III; 699712 (2008) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.781240
Event: SPIE Photonics Europe, 2008, Strasbourg, France

Abstract

We present experiments measuring the complex degree of coherence of a Broad-Area Vertical-Cavity Surface-Emitting Laser (BA-VCSEL) when it is driven into a regime of spatially incoherent emission. This high-power, spatially incoherent emission regime is quite uncommon for semiconductor lasers but can be useful in e.g. illumination and projection systems, as the low degree of spatial coherence may help to reduce speckle. The near-field coherence properties are measured for different positions in the VCSEL's aperture using a 180 degrees reversing-wavefront Michelson interferometer. We give evidence that the coherence area is much smaller than the VCSEL's aperture and that the intensity fluctuations across the coherence area are small, therefore allowing the BA-VCSEL to be considered a quasi-homogeneous source. We explain the reason for the relatively small coherence radius of about 1.4 μm based on the mode size in a planar cavity together with the thermal gradient within the VCSEL aperture.

Citation Download Citation

Gordon Craggs, Guy Verschaffelt, Michael Peeters, Shyam K. Mandre, and Ingo Fischer "Coherence radius and mode size of a broad-area vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser in the incoherent emission regime", Proc. SPIE 6997, Semiconductor Lasers and Laser Dynamics III, 699712 (8 May 2008); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.781240

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