Spectral linewidth narrowing of two broad-area blue laser diodes (445  nm) with a common external cavity

Two watt-level broad-area laser diodes were simultaneously locked into a common external cavity made using a surface grating in a Littrow configuration. The spectral linewidth of the combined laser beam was narrowed down from over a nanometer to 10-15 pm (FWHM), and the output power was the sum of the power of the individually locked laser diodes. The spectrum of the combined laser beam can be tuned over a range of 2-3 nm by changing the tilt angle of the grating and varying the injection currents of each laser diode.