  High-power and highly directional semiconductor cylinder-lasers based on an
optical resonator with deformed cross section are reported. In the favorable
directions of the far-field, a power increase of up to three orders of
magnitude over the conventional circularly symmetric lasers was obtained. A
"bow-tie"-shaped resonance is responsible for the improved performance of the
lasers in the higher range of deformations, in contrast to
"whispering-gallery"-type modes of circular and weakly deformed lasers. This
resonator design, although demonstrated here in midinfrared quantum-cascade
lasers, should be applicable to any laser based on semiconductors or other
high-refractive index materials.
