Semiconductor laser with broad-area intra-cavity angled grating

A coherent light generating structure comprising,

• at least one active region for generating lightwaves,
• excitation means for pumping at least a portion of said at least one active region,
• first and second reflective means for defining a resonant cavity therebetween, said pumped portion of said at least one active region disposed at least partially within said resonant cavity, and
• distributed reflective means disposed at an angle to said first and second reflective means within at least a portion of said resonant cavity for coherently diffracting at least a portion of a beam of said generated lightwaves along a path within said resonant cavity between said first and second reflective means, at least a portion of said path of said beam of generated lightwaves coinciding with at least a portion of said pumped portion of said at least one active region and at least a portion of said path of said beam of generated lightwaves being at least partially laterally directed at a nonperpendicular angle to said first and second reflective means, said distributed reflective means having a dominant periodicity and a characteristic orientation selected such that at least a specified wavelength of lightwaves generated by said active region is within a resonance bandwidth of said distributed reflective means for lightwaves incident thereon from a direction normal to said first and second reflective means.

A coherent light generating structure comprising,

• at least one active region for generating lightwaves,
• excitation means for pumping at least a portion of said at least one active region,
• first and second reflective means spaced apart from one another for defining a resonant cavity therebetween, said pumped portion of said at least one active region disposed at least partially within said resonant cavity, and
• one and only one broad-area grating reflector disposed within a portion of said resonant cavity, said grating reflector oriented at an angle of at least 45.degree. relative to said first and second reflective means such that lightwaves propagating in a direction normal to said first and second reflective means are incident on said grating reflector at a shallow incidence angle and within a resonance bandwidth of said grating reflector for at least a specified wavelength of said lightwaves generated by said active region.

A coherent light generating structure comprising

• at least one active region for generating lightwaves,
• excitation means for pumping at least a portion of said at least one active region,
• first and second reflective means spaced apart from one another for defining a resonant cavity therebetween, said pumped portion of said at least one active region disposed at least partially within said resonant cavity, and
• one and only one broad area grating reflector disposed within a portion of said resonant cavity and oriented at an angle relative to said first and second reflective means for laterally diffracting at least a portion of a beam of said generated lightwaves along a serpentine path within said resonant cavity, lightwaves propagating along said serpentine path reversing direction only upon reflection by either of said first and second reflective means.

A semiconductor diode laser structure comprising

• a semiconductor body having at least one active region therein for generating lightwaves,
• means for injecting electrical current into at least one selected gain portion of said at least one active region so as to generate and amplify said lightwaves under lasing conditions,
• a pair of reflectors of said lightwaves spaced apart from one another and defining a resonant optical cavity therebetween, at least part of said at least one selected gain portion being located within said resonant optical cavity between said pair of reflectors, and
• at least one broad-area grating reflector disposed within at least a portion of said resonant optical cavity between said pair of reflectors and oriented at an angle to said pair of reflectors such that lightwaves incident upon said at least one grating reflector from a direction normal to said pair of reflectors are at least partially deflected in a lateral direction across said active region, said at least one grating reflector having a grating period selected such that at least a specified wavelength of said lightwaves lies within a resonance bandwidth of said at least one grating reflector for light incident thereupon from a direction normal to said pair of reflectors.

A laser array structure comprising

• at least one active region for generating lightwaves,
• excitation means for pumping at least a portion of said at least one active region,
• first and second reflective means spaced apart from one another for defining a resonant cavity therebetween, said pumped portion of said at least one active region disposed at least partially within said resonant cavity, and
• a plurality of broad-area grating reflectors laterally disposed with respect to one another in an array within at least a portion of said resonant cavity, each grating reflector oriented at an angle of at least 45.degree. relative to said first and second reflective means such that lightwaves propagating in a direction normal to said first and second reflective means are incident on one said grating reflector at a shallow incidence angle and within a resonance bandwidth of said grating reflector for at least a specified wavelength of said lightwaves generated by said active region.