High Power Semiconductor Lasers

The paper is subdivided into 4 sections. Section 2 describes the many applications and the future needs for high power laser diodes. Section 3 discusses the semiconductor laser device concepts which are applicable to high power operation. A detailed summary of the basic concepts for high power operation, important GaAlAs /GaAs commercial structures, and high power 1.3 um lasers is provided. Section 4, describes the semiconductor phase -locked laser arrays. A summary of the current device structures and methods for operating laser arrays in a single diffraction limited beam are described.