AIGaAs Laser Modules: High Performance Components for Electrooptic Systems

Semiconductor lasers have found widespread applications. They are used to read digital information from compact discs, but also to write and read information on optical memory discs. Other applications include optical communication, printers and disperse types of measurement techniques. In all these applications some of the inherent advantages of semiconductor lasers are exploited. These lasers are of very small size, of extremely high efficiency, emit coherent radiation, are inexpensive and easy to drive and modulate. Associated with these advantages are, however, a few short comings of the optical output beam: this output is highly divergent, of elliptical shape and in the case of gain guided lasers also astigmatic. In the following AIGaAs laser modules are described which overcome these deficiencies and which create new applications for semiconductors lasers.