Diode laser pumped, KERR phase-shifting and switching of a diode laser signal in a small area optical fibre

In this paper authors report the first demonstration of a diode laser powered Kerr effect device, consisting of a single birefringent fiber, able to phase-shift and switch an optical signal generated by a second laser diode. They have obtained fast, stable phase-shifting of 90° in a single fiber, at a coupled pump power of only 20 mW. Using this phase shift to induce polarization switching with resultant gating, 25% modulation of the diode laser signal has been observed, with a detection limited-rise time of 10ns.

Spectral measurement of diode lasers with a single-mode birefringent fibre

A new, and very simple spectrometer based on birefringent fiber is described. A resolution of 0.02 angstrom has been achieved, and the system has been used to measure diode laser chirp. A length of 10km of fiber would be sufficient to resolve single mode line widths.

Long-wavelength monolithic mode-locked diode lasers

A detailed study of the design issues relevant to long-wavelength monolithic mode-locked lasers is presented. Following a detailed review of the field, we have devised a validated travelling wave model to explore the limits of mode-locking in monolithic laser diodes, not only in terms of pulse duration and repetition rate, but also in terms of stability. It is shown that fast absorber recovery is crucial for short pulse width, that the ratio of gain to absorption saturation is key in accessing ultrashort pulses and that low alpha factors give only modest benefit. Finally, optimized contact layouts are shown to greatly enhance pulse stability and the overall operational success. The design rules show high levels of consistency with published experimental data.

Very high modulation efficiency two-sections tapered laser diode at 1060nm for free space optical communications

High-power (more than 500 mW) and high-speed (more than 1 Gbps) tapered lasers at 1060 nm are required in free-space optical communications and (at lower frequencies of around 100 MHz) display applications for frequency doubling to the green. On a 3 mm long tapered laser, we have obtained an open eye diagram at 1 Gbps, together with a high extinction ratio of 11 dB, an optical modulation amplitude of 530 mW, and a high modulation efficiency of 13 W/A. On a 4 mm-long tapered laser, we have obtained an open eye diagram at 700 Mbps, together with a high extinction ratio of 19 dB, a high optical modulation amplitude of 1.6 W, and a very high modulation efficiency of 19 W/A. On a 6 mm-long tapered laser, we have obtained a very high power of 5W CW and a very high static modulation efficiency of 59.8 W/A. © 2011 SPIE.