Influence of GaAsP insertion layers on performance of InGaAsP/InGaP/AlGaAs quantum-well laser

We report on the use of very thin GaAsP insertion layers to improve the performance of an InGaAsP/InGaP/AlGaAs single quantum-well laser structure grown by metal organic chemical vapour deposition. Compared to the non-insertion structure, the full width at half maximum of photoluminescence spectrum of the insertion structure measured at room temperature is decreased from 47 to 38 nm indicating sharper interfaces. X-ray diffraction shows that the GaAsP insertion layers between AlGaAs and InGaP compensates for the compressive strain to improve the total interface. The laser performance of the insertion structure is significantly improved as compared with the counterpart without the insertion layers. The threshold current is decreased from 560 to 450mA while the slope efficiency is increased from 0.61 to 0.7W/A and the output power is increased from 370 to 940mW. The slope efficiency improved is very high for the devices without coated facets. The improved laser performance is attributed to the suppression of indium carry-over due to the use of the GaAsP insertion layers.

High-repetition rate Q-switched Nd : YVO4 laser with a composite semiconductor absorber

A diode-pumped Nd:YVO4 laser passively Q switched by a semiconductor absorber is demonstrated. The Q-switched operation of the laser has an average output power of 135 mW with a 1.6 W incident pump power. The minimum pulse width is measured to be about 8.3 ns with a repetition rate of 2 MHz. To our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of a solid-state laser passively Q-switched by such a composite semiconductor absorber. (c) 2006 Optical Society of America.

MQW electroabsorption modulator-integrated DFB laser modules for high-speed transmission

Details of the design, fabrication and testing of a strained InGaAsP/InGaAsP multiple quantum well (MQW) electroabsorption modulator (EAM) monolithically integrated with a DFB laser by ultra-low-pressure selective area growth (SAG) are presented. The method greatly simplifies the integration process. A study of the controllability of band-gap energy by SAG has been performed. After being completely packaged in a seven-pin butterfly compact module, the device successfully performs 10 Gb s(-1) nonreturn to zero (NRZ) operation on uncompensated transmission span >53 km in a standard fibre with a 8.7 dB dynamic extinction ratio. A receiver sensitivity of -18.9 dBm at a bit error rate (BER) of 10(-10) is confirmed. 10 GHz short pulse trains with 15.3 ps pulsewidth have also been generated.

Comparison between two kinds of semiconductor absorbers for mode-locking in Nd : YVO4 laser

We have demonstrated passive mode-locking in a diode-end-pumped Nd:YVO4 laser using two kinds of semiconductor absorbers whose relaxation region comes from In0.25Ga0.75As grown at low temperature (LT) and GaAs/air interface respectively Mode-locking, using absorbers of the GaAs/air interface relaxation region, has the characteristics of less Q-switching tendency and higher average output power than that using absorbers of LT In0.25Ga0.75As relaxation region, but is not as stable as the latter.

Design consideration and performance of high-power and high-brightness InGaAs-InGaAsP-AlGaAs quantum-well diode lasers (lambda=0.98 mu m)

In this paper, we conduct a theoretical analysis of the design, fabrication, and performance measurement of high-power and high-brightness strained quantum-well lasers emitting at 0.98 mum, The material system of interest consists of an Al-free InGaAs-InGaAsP active region and AlGaAs cladding layers. Some key parameters of the laser structure are theoretically analyzed, and their effects on the laser performance are discussed. The laser material is grown by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition and demonstrates high quality with low-threshold current density, high internal quantum efficiency, and extremely low internal loss. High-performance broad-area multimode and ridge-waveguide single-mode laser devices are fabricated. For 100-mum-wide stripe lasers having a cavity length of 800 mum, a high slope efficiency of 1.08 W-A, a low vertical beam divergence of 34 degrees, a high output power of over 4.45 W, and a very high characteristic temperature coefficient of 250 K were achieved. Lifetime tests performed at 1.2-1.3 W (12-13 mW/mum) demonstrates reliable performance. For 4-mum-wide ridge waveguide single-mode laser devices, a maximum output power of 394 mW and fundamental mode power up to 200 mW with slope efficiency of 0.91 mW/mum are obtained.

Native-oxidized InAlAs blocking layer buried heterostructure InGaAsP-InP MQW laser for high-temperature operation

A novel idea of InAlAs native oxide utilized to replace the p-n-p-n thyristor blocking layer and improve the high-temperature performance of buried heterostructure InGaAsP-InP laser is first proposed and demonstrated. A characteristic temperature (T-0) of 50 K is achieved from an InA1As native oxide buried heterostructure (NOBH) InGaAsP-InP multiquantum-well laser with 1.5-mu m-wide diode leakage passage path. The threshold current and slope efficiency of NOBH laser changes from 5.6 mA, 0.23 mW/mA to 28 mA, 0.11 mW/mA with the operating temperature changing from 20 degrees C to 100 degrees C. It is comparable to conventional p-n reverse biased junction BH laser with minimized diode leakage current, and is much better than the buried ridge strip with proton implanted laterally confinement laser.

Advances in high power semiconductor diode lasers - art. no. 682402

High power semiconductor lasers have broad applications in the fields of military and industry. Recent advances in high power semiconductor lasers are reviewed mainly in two aspects: improvements of diode lasers performance and optimization of packaging architectures of diode laser bars. Factors which determine the performance of diode lasers, such as power conversion efficiency, temperature of operation, reliability, wavelength stabilization etc., result from a combination of new semiconductor materials, new diode structures, careful material processing of bars. the latest progress of today's high-power diode lasers at home and abroad is briefly discussed and typical data are presented. The packaging process is of decisive importance for the applicability of high-power diode laser bars, not only technically but also economically. The packaging techniques include the material choosing and the structure optimizing of heat-sinks, the bonding between the array and the heat-sink, the cooling and the fiber coupling, etc. The status of packaging techniques is stressed. There are basically three different diode package architectural options according to the integration grade. Since the package design is dominated by the cooling aspect,. different effective cooling techniques are promoted by different package architectures and specific demands. The benefit and utility of each package are strongly dependent upon the fundamental optoelectronic properties of the individual diode laser bars. Factors which influence these properties are outlined and comparisons of packaging approaches for these materials are made. Modularity of package for special application requirements is an important developing tendency for high power diode lasers.

Low-threshold diode-pumped CW passively mode-locked Nd:YVO4 lase

A low-threshold passively continuous-wave (CW) mode-locked Nd:YVO4 solid-state laser was demonstrated by use of a semiconductor saturable absorber mirror (SESAM). The threshold for continuous-wave mode-locked is relatively low, about 2.15 W. The maximum average output power was 2.12 W and the optical to optical conversion efficiency was about 32%. The pulse width was about 15 ps with the repetition rate of 105 MHz. (C) 2008 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

Phase-locked ring-defect photonic crystal vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser

Phase-locked oxide-confined ring-defect photonic crystal vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser is presented. The coupled-mode theory is employed to illustrate the two supermodes of the device, in-phase and out-of-phase supermode. Experimental results verify the two supermodes by the characteristics of the spectra and the far field patterns. At the lower current, only the out-of-phase supermode is excited, whereas under the higher current, the in-phase supermode also appears at the shorter wavelength range. In addition, the measured spectral separation between the two supermodes agrees well with the theoretical result.

12 W high efficiency single frequency ring laser

Single-frequency output power of 12 W at 1064 nm is demonstrated. Pumped by a fiber-coupled diode laser, the Nd:YVO4 produces 58.6% of the slope efficiency with respect to absorbed pump power, and 52.7% of the optical-optical efficiency and nearly diffraction-limited output with a beam quality parameter of M-2 approximate to 1.11. To the best of our knowledge, this is the highest slope efficiency and optical-optical efficiency in single-frequency Nd:YVO4 ring laser. The slope efficiency of the single frequency laser is close to the limit of the efficiency. [GRAPHICS] output spectrum of the single-frequency Nd:YVO4 ring laser

The Fabrication of Eight-Channel DFB Laser Array Using Sampled Gratings

An eight-channel monolithically integrated complex-coupled distributed-feedback laser array based on sampled gratings has been designed and fabricated. Selective lasing at different wavelengths is obtained. The frequency separation between each adjacent channel is about 200 GHz. The typical threshold current is between 30 and 40 mA. The optical output power of each channel is about 10 mW at an injection current of 100 mA. The continuous tuning of emission wavelength with injected currents is also demonstrated.

Synthesis and random laser application of ZnO nano-walls: a review

This review paper summarises briefly some important achievements of our recent research on the synthesis and novel applications of nanostructure ZnO such as honeycomb shaped 3-D (dimension) nano random-walls. A chemical reaction/vapour transportation deposition technique was employed to fabricate this structure on ZnO/SiO2/Si substrate without any catalyst and additive in a simple tube furnace to aim the low-cost and high qualified samples. Random laser action with strong coherent feedback at the wavelength between 375 nm and 395 nm has been firstly observed under 355 nm optical excitation with threshold pumping intensity of 0.38 MW/cm(2).

An experimental study of ultrashort pulsed ytterbium-doped fibre laser and amplifier

We report the generation of ultrashort pulses in ytterbium-doped fibre oscillator emitting around 1.05 mum at a repetition rate of 17.6MHz. A diode laser with single silica fibre at 976 nm pumps the ytterbium fibre laser, the all-fibre picosecond pulsed oscillator has excellent stability and compact size, and freedom from misalignment. After amplifying, pulse energy of 3.4 nJ and an average power of 60mW are obtained. The compression is obtained with a grating pair out of the cavity. The compressor produces 307 fs with the peak power 5.47 kW. A practical fibre-based source with good performance is thus demonstrated.

Efficient Mode-locked and Q-switched Nd∶YVO_4 Laser with Semiconductor Saturable Absorber Mirror

We reported an efficient diode pumped Nd ! YVO, 1 064 nm laser passively mode-locked and Q-switched by a semiconductor saturable absorber mirror(SESAM). At the incident pump power of 7. 5 W, 2. 81 W average output power was obtained during stable CW mode locking with a repetition rate of 111 MHz. The optical conversion efficiency was 37. 5% , and the slope efficiency was 39%. So far as we know, this is the highest optical-optical conversion efficiency with a SESAM at home.

1 GHz Repetition Rate CW Mode-locked Nd∶YVO_4 Laser

A diode-pumped CW mode-locked Nd