Developed photonic crystal laser with a diameter of 3 mm. (Provided by Kyoto University)
Photonic crystal laser: Realizes high-brightness single-mode continuous operation!
－Achieves 50 to 100W class operation and 1GWcm-2sr-1 luminance－
Report from Kyoto University press release
Department of Electronic Engineering, Kyoto University: Professor Susumu Noda
A research group has succeeded in “increasing the brightness to 1 GWcm-2sr-1” in the continuous operation state of a photonic crystal laser (PCSEL).
Large laser models from Raycus or IPG
The brightness of PCSEL is comparable to large lasers such as CO2 lasers, solid-state lasers and fiber lasers.
Luminance in PCSEL continuous operation:
Luminance units are defined as “area, light output per unit solid angle”.
In order to perform optical processing, it is necessary to “achieve a brightness of 1 GWcm-2sr-1”.
Achieving 1GWcm-2sr-1 luminance:
The research group has solved this problem by fabricating a compact, high-efficiency, low-cost PCSEL.
The success of high-brightness PCSELs will be a game changer in other fields.
Inventions of the research group:
In 1999, he invented the semiconductor laser PCSEL, which is capable of high output and high brightness operation.
Precise control of light wave coupling state:
Recently, we have succeeded in precisely controlling the optical wave coupling state inside the photonic crystal.
A PCSEL with a diameter of 3 mm:
We theoretically demonstrated that “50 to 100W class operation and brightness of 1GWcm-2sr-1 can be achieved.”
Furthermore, we demonstrated that a PCSEL with a diameter of 10 mm can achieve a single-digit higher output and brightness.
Achieving high beam quality operation:
In continuous operation, 50W single mode, narrow beam output angle (0.05°), and high beam quality operation are realized.
Achieved the world’s first brilliance (1GWcm-2sr-1) comparable to large lasers.
This result will be published in Nature on June 14 (online version, print version on June 22).
https://www.t.kyoto-u.ac.jp/ja/research/topics/20230615
High-brightness scalable continuous-wave single-mode photonic-crystal laser
Here, we surmount these challenges by developing large-scale photonic-crystal surface-emitting lasers
with controlled Hermitian and non-Hermitian couplings inside the photonic crystal and a pre-installed spatial distribution of the lattice constant,which maintains these couplings even under CW conditions.
A CW output power exceeding 50 W with purely single-mode oscillation and an exceptionally narrow beam divergence of 0.05° has been achieved
for photonic-crystal surface-emitting lasers with a large resonant diameter of 3 mm, corresponding to over 10,000 wavelengths in the material.
The brightness, a figure of merit encapsulating both output power and beam quality,
reaches 1 GW cm−2 sr−1, which rivals those of existing bulky lasers.
Our work is an important milestone toward the advent of single-mode 1-kW-class semiconductor lasers,
which are expected to replace conventional, bulkier lasers in the near future.