High-power single-mode emission from a broad-area semiconductor laser with a pseudoexternal cavity and a Fabry-Perot etalon

A simple pseudoexternal cavity with a commerically available broad-area laser diode, standard optics, and a thin Fabry-Perot etalon provides single-mode emission with 1-W optical power and a tuning range of similar to 0.5 nm. The linewidth is estimated at 200 MHz. Such high-power semiconductor laser systems are promising light sources for atomic physics, in which narrow-band high-power light is necessary, for example, for optical pumping of alkali metal vapor. Methods for expanding the tuning range and achieving higher narrow-band optical power are discussed. (C) 1997 Optical Society of America.