Genetically Optimized Photonic Crystal for Spatial Filtering of Reinjection into Broad-Area Diode Lasers

Modern high-power broad-area semiconductor laser diodes (BASLDs) deliver optical output powers of several ten Watts at high electro-optical conversion efficiencies, which makes them highly relevant for numerous industrial, medical and scientific applications. However, lateral multimode behavior in BASLDs due to thermal lensing turns out highly detrimental, as it results in poor focusability and decreased laser beam brightnesss. Approaches to overcome this issue include improved epitaxial layer design, the optimization of evanescent spatial filtering by tailoring the emitter geometry and facet reflectivity, or Fourier spatially filtered reinjection from an external resonator [1].