2021, Vu, Thi Nghiem, Tien, Tran Quoc, Sumpf, Bernd, Klehr, Andreas, Fricke, Jörg, Wenzel, Hans, Tränkle, Günther

An all-diode laser-based master oscillator power amplifier (MOPA) configuration for the generation of ns-pulses with high peak power, stable wavelength and small spectral line width is presented. The MOPA emits alternating at two wavelengths in the spectral range between 964 nm and 968 nm, suitable for the detection of water vapor by absorption spectroscopy. The monolithic master oscillator (MO) consists of two slightly detuned distributed feedback laser branches, whose emission is combined in a Y-coupler. The two emission wavelengths can be adjusted by varying the current or temperature to an absorption line and to a non-absorbing region. The power amplifier (PA) consists of a ridge-waveguide (RW) section and a tapered section, monolithically integrated within one chip. The RW section of the PA acts as an optical gate and converts the continuous wave input beam emitted by the MO into a sequence of short optical pulses, which are subsequently amplified by the tapered section to boost the output power. For a pulse width of 8 ns, a peak power of 16.3 W and a side mode suppression ratio of more than 37 dB are achieved at a repetition rate of 25 kHz. The measured spectral width of 10 pm, i.e., 0.1 cm−1, is limited by the resolution of the optical spectrum analyzer. The generated pulses emitting alternating at two wavelengths can be utilized in a differential absorption light detection and ranging system.

2011, Tronciu, Vasile, Schwertfeger, Sven, Radziunas, Mindaugas, Klehr, Andreas, Bandelow, Uwe, Wenzel, Hans

We apply a travelling wave model to the simulation of the amplification of laser pulses generated by Q-switched or mode-locked distributed-Bragg reflector lasers. The power amplifier monolithically integrates a ridge-waveguide section acting as pre-amplifier and a flared gain-region amplifier. The diffraction limited and spectral-narrow band pulses injected in to the pre-amplifier have durations between 10 ps and 100 ps and a peak power of typical 1 W. After the amplifier, the pulses reach a peak power of several tens of Watts preserving the spatial, spectral and temporal properties of the input pulse. We report results obtained by a numerical solution of the travelling-wave equations and compare them with experimental investigations. The peak powers obtained experimentally are in good agreement with the theoretical predictions. The performance of the power amplifier is evaluated by considering the dependence of the pulse energy as a function of different device and material parameters.

2020, Klehr, Andreas, Liero, Armin, Christopher, Heike, Wenzel, Hans, Maaßdorf, Andre, Della Casa, Pietro, Fricke, Jörg, Ginolas, Arnim, Knigge, Andrea

Diode lasers generating optical pulses with high peak power and lengths in the nanosecond range are key components for light detection and ranging systems, e.g. for autonomous driving and object detection. We present here an internally wavelength stabilized distributed Bragg reflector broad area laser bar with 48 emitters. The vertical structure based on AlGaAs (confinement and cladding layers) and InGaAs (active quantum well) is specifically optimized for wavelength-stabilized pulsed operation, applying a surface Bragg grating with high reflectivity. The bar is electrically driven by a new in-house developed high-speed driver based on GaN transistors providing current pulses with amplitudes of up to 1000 A and a repetition frequency of 10 kHz. The generated 4 ns to 10 ns long optical pulses are nearly rectangular shaped and reach a pulse peak power in excess of 600 Watts at 25 °C. The optical spectrum with a centre wavelength of about 900 nm has a width of 0.15 nm (FWHM) with a side mode suppression ratio > 30 dB. © 2020 IOP Publishing Ltd.

2020, Liero, Armin, Klehr, Andreas, Knigge, Andrea, Heinrich, Wolfgang

This paper presents a pulse-laser source for the generation of ps and ns laser pulses with more than 50 W peak output power. The final stages of the drivers use GaN transistors and are capable of switching currents of 0.8 A with 200 ps minimum pulse width and 50 A with 3 ns minimum pulse width. The pulses can be externally triggered by ECL logic. Both single-pulse and pulse train modes are possible.

2019, Zeghuzi, Anissa, Wünsche, Hans-Jürgen, Wenzel, Hans, Radziunas, Mindaugas, Fuhrmann, Jürgen, Klehr, Andreas, Bandelow, Uwe, Knigge, Andrea

We propose a physically realistic and yet numerically applicable thermal model to account for short and long term self-heating within broad-area lasers. Although the temperature increase is small under pulsed operation, a waveguide that is formed within a few-ns-long pulse can result in a transition from a gain-guided to an index-guided structure, leading to near and far field narrowing. Under continuous wave operation the longitudinally varying temperature profile is obtained self-consistently. The resulting unfavorable narrowing of the near field can be successfully counteracted by etching trenches.

2004, Hasler, Karl Heinz, Wenzel, Hans, Klehr, Andreas, Knauer, Arne, Fricke, Jörg, Janke, Bernd, Erbert, Götz, Schwertfeger, Sven

[no abstract available]

2008, Klehr, Andreas, Zorn, Martin, Weyers, M., Erbert, G., Fricke, J., Knauer, A., Pittroff, W., Staske, R., Wenzel, H., Zeimer, U.

[no abstract available]