Deep- to near-ultraviolet surface-emitting semiconductor laser sources for biomedicine

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Vertical external cavity surface emitting lasers (VECSELs) are gaining increasing recognition as powerful, high-performance solid-state lasers possessing benefits which arise from utilising a semiconductor gain region. Principal among these is that their emission wavelength can be engineered within the constraints of a particular material system to achieve high power, tuneable laser output, which may be customised for a wide range of applications. This advantage would have a profound effect on exciting applications in the scientifically and technologically important ultraviolet wavelength region where suitable laser sources of any description are scarce. We propose, for the first time, to extend the wavelength coverage of VECSELs to the near and deep-ultraviolet, by utilising non-linear frequency conversion in conjunction with emerging red VECSEL technology. Such devices offer the possibility of at least tens of milliWatts of continuous wave, tuneable output power in the deep to near-ultraviolet region. Sources developed within this research will be applied in atom spectroscopy and ultraviolet resonance Raman spectroscopy for molecular analysis of complex biological systems.