Red microchip VECSEL array

surface emitting laser operating directly at red wavelengths and demonstrate its potential for array-format operation. Optical pumping with up to 3.3W at 532nm produced a maximum output power of 330mW at 675nm, in a single circularly-symmetric beam with M-2 < 2. Simultaneous pumping with three separate input beams, generated using a diffractive optical element, achieved lasing from three discrete areas of the same chip. Output power of similar to 95mW per beam was obtained from this 3x1 array, each beam having a Gaussian intensity profile with M-2 < 1.2. In a further development, a spatial light modulator allowed computer control over the orientation and separation of the pump beams, and hence dynamic control over the configuration of the VECSEL array. (c) 2005 Optical Society of America