A measurement of modal gain profile and its effect on the lasing performance in vertical-external-cavity surface-emitting lasers

We investigate the effect of relative wavelength difference between material gain and resonance peaks on lasing performance in vertical-external-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VECSELs). We propose a measurement method of the wavelength-dependent modal gain profiles by inserting a birefringent filter inside a cavity in order to modulate the optical loss according to the wavelength. With knowledge of the detailed gain profiles, we achieve a stable green output power of 3.3 W and a power conversion efficiency (= green output power/pump input power) of 17% in VECSEL with a LiB3O5 crystal as an intracavity frequency doubler.