29.5W continuous wave output from 100um wide laser diode

We report modeling and experimental results that demonstrate mechanisms limiting the output power of semiconductor lasers and a method experimentally yielding a dramatic increase of the maximum continuous wave output power. Unfolded cavity is used to achieve higher power and efficiency by improving the alignment between the carrier and photon density profiles in a long cavity device. This method offers reduced longitudinal spatial hole burning (LSHB) and lower photon density inside the laser cavity; therefore, it decreases possible LSHB and non-linear effects that could limit the output power of a semiconductor laser. We have demonstrated 29.5W output from 5.7mm long and 100um wide waveguide at 9xx nm using an unfolded cavity. A semiconductor laser with an unfolded cavity allows scaling of the output power by increasing the cavity length.