Grating-based wavelength control of single-and two-color vertical-external-cavity-surface-emitting lasers

M. Scheller (1,2), S. W. Koch (1,3),  and J. V. Moloney (1,2)

1. Desert Beam Technol LLC, Tucson, AZ 85705 USA
2. Univ Arizona, Coll Opt Sci, Tucson, AZ 85721 USA
3. Univ Marburg, Fachbereich Phys, D-35037 Marburg, Germany

Publised in: Opt. Lett. 37, 25-27 (2012).

Wide wavelength tunability of single-and two-color operating vertical-external-cavity-surface-emitting lasers (VECSELs) is demonstrated. Employing an external feedback based on a diffractive grating outside the cavity of a narrow-line single-color VECSEL allows for a continuous tuning of the emission wavelength over 10 nm. Employing a dual-feedback-configuration for tunable two-color emission, a tunability of the difference frequency between the two lasing wavelengths from 300 gigahertz to up to 3.5 terahertz is demonstrated.