Universal Output Characteristics of Single-Mode Operation in Low-Loss Large-V-Number Multimode Waveguide Lasers with Transverse Spatial Hole Burning

We study the performance limit of single-mode operation in low-loss large-V-number planar waveguide lasers, with transverse spatial hole burning as the dominating mechanism for transverse-mode competition. By introducing normalized variables, we develop a simple semianalytical model to describe the universal output characteristics of single-mode emission before the onset of high-order modes, which can be easily scaled to a wide range of laser configuration parameters. Our model is validated using exact numerical solutions, which show applicability beyond that of the low-loss approximation. Our analysis establishes a minimum criterion of the loss ratio between the fundamental and first higher-order mode for a robust single-mode operation. This criterion is much weaker than that of conventional wisdom based on the pure wave-propagation argument, which we attribute to a resonator enhancement effect. Our universal outcome can be denormalized to establish the relationship between single-mode extraction efficiency and optimum output coupling in a multimode laser with arbitrary modal loss ratios over a wide range of single-pass unsaturated gain and loss.