Scaling Challenges in High Power Photonic Crystal Surface-Emitting Lasers

Since the initial proposal in 1999 by Noda et al., photonic crystal surface emitting lasers (PCSELs) have shown to achieve large area, coherent lasing with a narrow, single mode beam. Owing to their unique orthogonal electrical/optical cavity scheme, PCSELs have emerged as one of the most promising platforms for high power diode lasers. In this paper, we report the performance trade-offs and challenges in power scaling, modal competition, and charge injection control. To address these challenges, we investigate the electrical and optical performances of PCSELs under high-power operation. Heterostructure designs with electron block layers were incorporated for efficient and balanced electrical charge injection. Symmetry breaking strategy was introduced in the photonic crystal design to engineer the in-plane momentum dependent quality factor (Q(k)) for mode discrimination and single mode operation. The impact of electrode designs was also investigated to achieve large area uniform charge injection. Simulation results of these designs indicate promising solutions and improved performances for large-area high-power and single-mode PCSEL operations.

Automated summary

This paper investigates the electrical and optical performances of photonic crystal surface emitting lasers (PCSELs) under high-power operation. It addresses the challenges of power scaling, modal competition, and charge injection control. Various design strategies, such as incorporating electron block layers and symmetry breaking, are explored to improve the performance of large-area high-power and single-mode PCSEL operations.