A laser element includes a photonic crystal layer on which laser light is incident. The photonic crystal layer includes a base layer formed of a first refractive index medium; and a plurality of different refractive index regions formed of a second refractive index medium having a refractive index different from that of the first refractive index medium and disposed in the base layer. The plurality of different refractive index regions includes a first different refractive index region of which a planar shape is an approximate circle, an approximate square, or an approximate polygon having a rotational symmetry of 90° and a first area perpendicular to a thickness direction; and a second different refractive index region having a second area perpendicular to a thickness direction.

A laser apparatus includes a plurality of laser modules each generating a laser line in a working plane. The laser modules are juxtaposed so that the laser lines generated by the modules combine into a single laser line. Each of the laser modules includes at least one laser line generator. The laser line generator includes two linear arrays of strips of laser diodes each emitting a focused laser beam. The two linear arrays are arranged parallel to each other so that the strips are staggered. The two sets of parallel laser beams generated by the two linear arrays of strips, respectively, are merged into a single laser line by a set of mirrors. The linear arrays of strips of laser diodes and the mirrors are arranged so that the two sets of laser beams trace optical paths of the same length before being merged into a single laser line.

A vertical external cavity surface emitting laser (VECSEL) based system in a linear single cavity configuration is configured to deliver light in higher-order Hermite-Gaussian transverse modes with Watt-level output power. Simultaneous and independent lasing of spatially-restructurable multiple high-order transverse modes that are collinearly-propagating at the output of such laser cavity is facilitated with the use of an optical pumping scheme devised to control positions of location at which the gain medium of the system is pumped (e.g., locations of focal spots of multiple pump beams on the gain-medium chip). An external astigmatic mode converter is utilized to convert such high-order Hermite-Gaussian modes into corresponding Laguerre-Gaussian modes.

A method and a system for measurement of high laser field intensity, the method comprising tight focusing a non-Gaussian azimuthally polarized laser mode beam to a focusing spot, measuring a spectral line shape of a selected ionization state induced by a longitudinal oscillating magnetic field created by the tight focusing in the focusing spot; and determining the laser intensity from the spectral line shape. The system comprises a laser source of a peak power in a range between 100 terawatt and 10 petawatt; a converter unit; a tight focusing optics; and spectral measurement means; wherein the converter unit polarizes a main laser beam from the laser source into a non-Gaussian azimuthally polarized laser mode beam; the tight focusing optics focuses the azimuthally polarized laser mode beam to a focusing spot, yielding a longitudinal oscillating magnetic field of an intensity proportional to the laser intensity, the spectral measurement means measuring a line shape of a selected ionization state induced by the longitudinal oscillating magnetic field in focusing spot.

A vertical external cavity surface emitting laser (VECSEL) based system in a linear single cavity configuration is configured to deliver light in higher-order Hermite-Gaussian transverse modes with Watt-level output power. Simultaneous and independent lasing of spatially-restructurable multiple high-order transverse modes that are collinearly-propagating at the output of such laser cavity is facilitated with the use of an optical pumping scheme devised to control positions of location at which the gain medium of the system is pumped (e.g., locations of focal spots of multiple pump beams on the gain-medium chip). An external astigmatic mode converter is utilized to convert such high-order Hermite-Gaussian modes into corresponding Laguerre-Gaussian modes.

An illumination device includes an emission layer including a semiconductor-based light emitter; and an optical layer disposed on the emission layer. The optical layer includes an optical element, such as a lens, at least partially aligned with the semi-conductor-based light emitter. The optical layer is formed of a material having a negative coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE). For instance, the semiconductor-based light emitter is configured to emit light at a wavelength λ, and in which a pitch p of the MLA, a thickness z of the optical layer, and the wavelength λ satisfy a predefined relationship.

A method for generating a spatially transformed optical output from a laser system, the method comprising: disposing a laser gain medium within a laser cavity structure; arranging an interferometric device to complete the laser cavity structure, wherein the interferometric device receives an input beam from laser oscillation in the laser cavity structure, splits the input beam into two sub-beams, and recombines the two sub-beams to provide an optical feedback beam to sustain laser oscillation; configuring the optical components that comprise the interferometric device to provide relative misalignment of the two sub-beams that are produced internally to the interferometric device; using at least a first output port of the interferometric device to provide an output beam of the laser system that due to the misalignment is a spatial transformation of the internal mode structure of the laser; and using at least a second output port of the interferometric device to provide the optical feedback beam to the laser cavity structure that sustains laser oscillation with a spatial structure that substantially preserves the internal mode structure of the laser. An apparatus which implements such a method is also provided.

A semiconductor light emitting element that can form a useful beam pattern is provided. A semiconductor laser element LD includes an active layer 4, a pair of cladding layers 2 and 7 between which the active layer 4 is interposed, and a phase modulation layer 6 optically coupled to the active layer 4. The phase modulation layer 6 includes a base layer 6A and different refractive index regions 6B that are different in refractive index from the base layer 6A. The different refractive index regions 6B desirably arranged in the phase modulation layer 6 enable emission of laser light including a dark line with no zero-order light.

A vertical cavity surface emitting device includes a substrate, a first multilayer film reflecting mirror formed on the substrate, a light-emitting structure layer formed on the first multilayer film reflecting mirror, the light-emitting structure layer including a light-emitting layer; and a second multilayer film reflecting mirror formed on the light-emitting structure layer, the second multilayer film reflecting mirror constituting a resonator between the first multilayer film reflecting mirror and the second multilayer film reflecting mirror. The light-emitting structure layer has a high resistance region and a low resistance region having an electrical resistance lower than an electrical resistance of the high resistance region. The low resistance region has a plurality of partial regions arranged into a ring shape while being separated by the high resistance region in a plane of the light-emitting structure layer.

A system and method for tuning and infrared source laser in the Mid-IR wavelength range. The system and method comprising, at least, a plurality of individually tunable emitters, each emitter emitting a beam having a unique wavelength, a grating, a mirror positioned after the grating to receive at least one refracted order of light of at least one beam and to redirect the beam back towards the grating, and a micro-electro-mechanical systems device containing a plurality of adjustable micro-mirrors.