High-power vertical external-cavity surface-emitting laser emitting switchable wavelengths.

In this paper we reported on the optically pumped VECSELs with switchable lasing wavelengths. The two lasing wavelengths of λ ≈ 954 nm and 1003 nm are generated at different pumping powers from the same gain chip. The thermal rollover of output power is observed twice, and the first rollover on the power curve indicates the switch of lasing wavelength. During the operation of our VECSEL, the increase of pumping power changes the temperature within the gain chip, and thus the gain spectrum is tuned to the one of two modes, which is defined by the dips on the reflectivity spectrum. The maximum output power of each wavelength exceeds 2.2 W at -5 °C. The dual-wavelength emission at λ ≈954 nm and 1003 nm is also demonstrated, and the output power of the dual-wavelength emission reached nearly 2 W.