Abstract: A semiconductor diode laser has a characteristic output with a single mode vertical far-field divergence. The semiconductor diode laser includes a waveguide with a first refractive index and a quantum well embedded in the center of the waveguide. On one side of the waveguide sits a p-type cladding layer with a second refractive index smaller than the first refractive index. On the other side of the waveguide sits an n-type cladding layer with a third refractive index smaller than the first refractive index and larger than the second refractive index.

Abstract: A single-mode semiconductor diode laser includes a single-mode section, a tapered mode-transformer section coupled to the single-mode section, and a power-supply section coupled to the tapered mode transformer section. The power-supply section has a second width larger than the width of the single-mode section. The tapered mode-transformer section is characterized in that optical energy from said single-mode section adiabatically couples to the power-supply section through the mode-transformer section.

Abstract: A diode laser comprises a laser cavity defining a linear optical-path axis, and a current-pumped stripe region, said current-pumped stripe region being disposed within said laser cavity. The laser cavity includes an output surface perpendicular to the optical axis; and a reflection surface including a distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) grating and being disposed at a non-perpendicular angle to the optical-path axis.

Abstract: An apparatus includes a single-mode master-oscillator section and a power amplifier section. The single-mode master-oscillator section includes a waveguide defined by a first end and a second end, the first end including a first distributed Bragg reflector mirror, and the second end including a second distributed Bragg reflector mirror. The single-mode-master-oscillator section also has a first longitudinal axis. The power amplifier section is a broad-contact amplifier coupled to the single-mode-master-oscillator section by a coupling grating that is contained in the waveguide of the single-mode-master-oscillator section. The broad contact amplifier section includes a reflection side, an output side and a second longitudinal axis, the second longitudinal axis being at an angle approximately (90°−&bgr;) to said first longitudinal axis, &bgr; being in a range between 0° and approximately 20°.

Abstract: A semiconductor laser device with separated, highly-strained quantum wells employs highly-strained ternary and quasi-ternary compounds as material for each quantum well. A first device structure includes a quantum well composition range extended from strained ternary compounds employed in conventional quantum well laser devices. A second device structure, employing a similar structure to that of the first device, employs new quasi-ternary compounds with compositions outside of the miscibility gap of corresponding quaternary compounds for quantum wells in GaSb— or InAs-based laser devices which extend performance of mid-infrared laser devices operating in the 2.2-4.0 &mgr;m range. The semiconductor diode laser may be formed so as to operate having a multi-mode or single-mode radiation.

Abstract: A semiconductor diode laser with thermal sensor control comprises a heat sink, a diode-laser structure, and a thermal sensor thermally coupled to said diode-laser structure in a place where the temperature gradient across the semiconductor diode laser is close to zero.