Oxide-confined vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser pumped Nd:YVO4 microchip lasers

In this letter, we demonstrate an experimental study of using a large area oxide-confined vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) to pump a Nd:YVO/sub 4/ microchip laser. The maximum output power of 1.2 mW in TEM/sub 00/ mode is obtained with a pump power of 8.2 mW. Experimental results show that the complex transverse modal behavior of VCSELs in the higher injection current may cause an impediment of power scaling.