Recording of holographic gratings for photonic crystal laser diodes using photomodification of GaAs heterostructures

Optical recording of the buried volume phase holographic Bragg gratings directly in the active region of a laser diode heterostructure with no degradation of the material photoluminescence is demonstrated. The process of photomodification of material refractive index at low light intensity used for grating recording results in cleaning the active region of the laser diode heterostructure from self-interstitial defects. This opens the door to fabrication of high-power photonic crystal laser diodes with narrowed emission spectrum and improved overall performance for various applications, including the diode-pumped high-power laser systems.