| This work presents the first demonstration of a passively modelocked extended vertical cavity surface emitting laser (VECSEL) diode. Three cavity configurations were used to sustain stable passive modelocking operation: the Z-shaped, V-shaped and linear cavities. A semiconductor saturable absorber mirror (SESAM) used to triggered passive modelocking of the VECSEL diode. The SESAM device was used as a nonlinear high reflector in the Z-shaped and V-shaped cavity configurations, while it served as an output coupler (SESAMOC) in the linear cavity after the substrate was being angle polished and antireflection coated to eliminate any etalon effects. Many examples of VECSEL diode passive modelocking results will be presented. The standard non-collinear second-harmonic autocorrelation technique has been used to measure the generated pulse width, which was as small as 23 psec. The VECSEL-SESAM configuration has generated stable pulse trains at repetition rates ranging from 1 GHz to approximately 6 GHz, depending on the resonator configuration. Modelocking operation was stable and robust as amplitude noise measurements revealed a noise level ∼0.8%. Moreover, harmonic passive modelocking operation has been observed for the first time during the investigation of modelocking dynamics and stability in the regime of strong self-feedback coupling >10%.; A reverse biased p-i-n QW device has enabled the generation of a stable pulse train at 15 GHz with pulse duration close to 15 psec and amplitude noise level ∼0.3%. However, due to design limitations of both the active and passive VECSELs, driving the system to produce repetition rates close to 20 GHz resulted in pulse amplitude variation and an unavoidable DC background. These initial results suggest the possibility of design and fabrication of an integrated or monolithic structure, which may lead to operation of the device at repetition rates beyond 50 GHz with sub-ps pulse durations. Although our VECSEL diode emits 980 nm wavelengths, we believe that our approach is portable to other wavelengths regimes, such as 1300 nm and 1550 nm. |
