High-Power Higher Order Hermite–Gaussian and Laguerre–Gaussian Beams From Vertical External Cavity Surface Emitting Lasers

We report a vertical external cavity surface emitting laser (VECSEL) with an optical pumping scheme for the generation of higher order Hermite-Gaussian transverse modes. The VECSEL chip with emission around 1068 nm in a linear cavity configuration is capable of delivering a variety of higher order modes with Watt-level output power. A very good agreement between the modeling and experimental results validate the ideas underpinning the method. Additionally, simultaneous lasing of two independent and collinear transverse modes from a single laser cavity is demonstrated. An external astigmatic mode converter is finally utilized for the conversion of Hermite-Gaussian modes into corresponding Laguerre-Gaussian modes.