1060 nm vertical-external-cavity surface-emitting lasers with an optical-to-optical efficiency of 44% at room temperature

We report a high power fundamental transverse mode operation of an optically pumped 1060nm vertical-external-cavity surface-emitting laser. A diamond heat spreader was capillary bonded to the semiconductor surface. A 10W continuous wave operation with optical-to-optical conversion efficiency of 44% was achieved at room temperature. The thermal rollover was not found up to a heat sink temperature of 60°C. High efficiency and good thermal stability were mainly due to the optimization of epitaxial quality and the high conductivity of the diamond heat spreader. We have found that the increase of the round trip loss caused by the heat spreader was about 1%.