Apparatus and method for providing a single-mode grating-outcoupled surface emitting laser with detuned second-order outcoupler grating

A grating-outcoupled surface emitting laser, comprising:

• an optical cavity;
• at least one gain section;
• at least one grating section positioned to outcouple light;
• and
• at least one distributed Bragg reflectors section to provide wavelength selective feedback to said lasing optical cavity.

A method for obtaining a kink-free linear curve for a grating outcoupled surface emitting laser having a finite length outcoupling aperture, comprising the steps of:

• providing first and second reflective gratings at either end of the laser, wherein the first and second reflective gratings each have a unique reflective spectrum covering a broad band of light wavelengths;
• providing an outcoupling region between the first and second reflective gratings, wherein the outcoupling region has a grating that couples a light beam out of the laser, and wherein the outcoupling grating has a unique reflective spectrum covering a wide band of light wavelengths, wherein the reflective spectrum of the outcoupling grating comprises a second-order of the reflective spectra of the first and second reflective gratings;
• and
• selecting a period of the outcoupling grating so as to detune the reflective spectrum of the outcoupling grating from the selected resonance wavelength.

A method for obtaining a kink-free linear power-current curve for a grating outcoupled surface emitting laser having a finite length outcoupling aperture, comprising the steps of:

• providing an optical cavity;
• providing at least one gain section;
• providing at least one grating section positioned to outcouple light;
• providing at least one distributed Bragg reflector section, said at least one distributed Bragg reflector section providing wavelength selective feedback to said lasing optical cavity;
• and
• selecting a period of said at least one grating section so as to detune the reflective spectrum of said at least one grating section from the distributed Bragg reflector selected resonance wavelength.