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Updated: Jul 9, 2026

Investigation of Early Plasma Evolution Induced by Ultrashort Laser Pulses
Published on: July 2, 2012
Experimental observation of traveling waves in the transverse section of a laser
Abstract:
The selection of a transverse traveling wave by an inhomogeneous pump profile has been experimentally observed in a class B laser structure. The laser structure consisted of a wide-aperture edge-emitting laser diode operating in pulsed mode to avoid thermal guiding effects. The injection current's profile was modified from the usual top-hat configuration to a Lorentzian-like profile by the inclusion of a 10-mum p-type expitaxial spreading layer. Spatial dependance of the far field on the near field was observed. The same behavior is also demonstrated numerically by use of Maxwell-Bloch equations for semiconductor lasers.
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