Design and characterization of a nonuniform linear vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser array with a Gaussian far-field distribution

A 980 nm bottom-emitting vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser array with a nonuniform linear arrangement is reported to realize emission with a Gaussian far-field distribution. This array is composed of five symmetrically arranged elements of 200 [micro]m, 150 [micro]m, and 100 [micro]m diameter, with center spacing of 300 [micro]m and 250 [micro]m, respectively. An output power of 880mW with a high power density of 1 kW/[cm.sup.2] is obtained. The divergence angle is below 20[degrees] in the range of operating current from 0A to 6 A. The theoretical simulation of the near-field and the far-field distribution is in good agreement with the experimental result. The comparison between this nonuniform linear array, the single device, and the conventional two-dimensional array is carried out to demonstrate the good performance of the linear array. OCIS codes: 140.7260, 140.1240, 140.3295.