High-Brightness 980 nm Tapered Step-Ridge-Waveguide Photonic Crystal Laser Diode

High-brightness diode lasers, emitting around 9xx nm with watt-class powers, are the key component in numerous applications. we present approaches to increase the power level and the brightness. A 980 nm tapered step-ridge-waveguide photonic crystal laser diode (TSRW-PCLD) was designed to achieve separate confinement of carriers and optical fields. This design restricts lateral carrier diffusion to maximize overlap with the fundamental mode. Through meticulous optimization of the injection region width and optical waveguide dimensions, competition from higher-order modes is suppressed. A 4-mm-cavity high-brightness semiconductor laser is demonstrated with an output power of 2.92 W at an injection current of 3.7 A, and a brightness of 130 MW·cm⁻²·sr⁻¹ (lateral brightness of 5.16 W·mm⁻¹·mrad⁻¹) at the second moment level.