Quasi-3D numerical analysis of asymmetries in 980nm tapered laser diodes

An advanced steady state semiconductor laser model is used to analyse the characteristics of high power laser diodes used for pumping erbium doped amplifiers. The laser model solves the bipolar current continuity equations in the bulk and quantum well regions, the thermal conduction equation and the optical wave equation in the travelling wave approximation using the 2D wide-angle beam propagation method. In this paper, we demonstrate that a small beam spoiler offset or mirror tilt results in a significant asymmetry of the near field patterns.