4 W single-transverse mode VECSEL utilising intra-cavity diamond heat spreader

An optically pumped semiconductor vertical external cavity surface emitting laser. with high output power and excellent beam quality operating at a wavelength near 1.05 mu m, is reported. A transparent diamond heat spreader was used for thermal management of the laser. The gain structure grown by molecular beam epitaxy includes 13 compressively strained InGaAs quantum wells. Maximum output power of 4 W with diffraction-limited beam (M-2 <= 1.15) was achieved using a 2% output coupler and incident pump power of 20 W. It is shown that power scalability is feasible with the presented laser geometry.