Study of non-diffracting light beams from broad-stripe edge-emitting semiconductor lasers

Broad-stripe edge-emitting semiconductor lasers have been used to obtain propagation-invariant (nondiffracting) light beams with powers and diameters of the central ray acceptable for optical manipulation and tweezing. The results of investigations of the propagation of Bessel beams generated from broad-stripe lasers with spectrally selective resonator show that the spatial homogeneity of emission plays a much greater role than the temporal coherence in the formation of Bessel beams. The main factors limiting the length of non-diffracting beam propagation (without distortion of the central ray) are the astigmatism and multimode character of laser radiation.