Laser sources at 460 nm based on intracavity doubling of extended-cavity surface-emitting lasers

Laser sources emitting at 460nm have been developed through intracavity doubling of an extended cavity, surface emitting semiconductor laser. These lasers are compact, spectrally pure, efficient, and have a high quality beam. The basic design is similar to previously reported work[1] at 488nm using Novalux Extended Cavity Surface Emitting Laser (NECSEL) structures. The choice of nonlinear material was found to be critical, with periodically poled materials providing distinct benefits over bulk materials. Output powers exceeded 20mW. The reliability of the completed lasers was found to be excellent.