Optical pumping injection cavity for optically pumped devices

Abstract

An apparatus for receiving optical pump radiation having a wavelength λp and transmitting pump light to an active region. The apparatus includes a first and second reflector, each reflector being reflective at the wavelength λp, disposed on opposite sides of the active region, where the separation between the reflectors creates a cavity that is resonant at the pump wavelength λp. The separation distance is preferably about mλp/2n cos θ, where n is the average index of refraction of the material having an active region, θ is the angle that the pump beam transverses relative the normal of said reflectors, and m is any positive integer. The apparatus provides low cost, high power, optically pumped edge emitting and surface emitting lasers which can be operated at elevated temperatures or power levels. The apparatus further provides mid-IR, high power optically pumped semiconductor lasers with high pump absorbance, long pump wavelength, and a thin active layer.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.