Grating-coupled surface emitters with built-in beam control

A grating coupled surface emitting semiconductor laser consists of an in-plane laser with an integrated grating coupler that couples the light from the laser out of the waveguide and simultaneously shapes the emitted beam. Here we report on the progress towards a fully integrated grating coupled surface emitter. This includes: (1) grating outcouplers exhibiting more than 90% outcoupling efficiency through the use of optimized grating profiles and waveguide structures, (2) grating outcouplers possessing beam shaping capabilities through the use of computer generated waveguide holograms, and (3) grating based in-plane lasers producing wide and spatially coherent guided modes through the use of an unstable resonator design and mode selective feedback elements.

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