Output Characteristics of an InP/InGaAsP Triangle Microcavity Laser

Mode competitions between modes with different output coupling efficiencies can result in optical bistability under certain asymmetric nonlinear gain. For a GaInAsP/InP equilateral triangle microlaser with the side length of 10 mu m, the drop of the output power with the increase of the injection current is observed corresponding to transverse mode transitions. Furthermore, the measured laser spectra up to 270 K show that lasing modes coexist with the wavelength interval of 39 nm at 240 K. The emission at 5.2 THz can be expected by the mode frequency beating with the 39 nm interval.

A Single-Fundamental-Mode Photonic Crystal Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Laser

Single-fundamental-mode photonic crystal (PhC) vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSEL) are produced and their single-fundamental-mode performances are investigated and demonstrated. A two-dimensional PhC with single-point-defect structure is fabricated using UV photolithography and inductive coupled plasma reactive ion etching on the surface of the VCSEL's top distributed Bragg-reflector. The PhC VCSEL maintains single-fundamental-mode operating with output power 1.7 mW and threshold current 2.5 mA. The full width half maximum of the lasing spectrum is less than 0.1 nm, the far field divergence angle is less than 10 degrees and the side mode suppression ratio is over 35 dB. The device characteristics are analyzed based on the effective index model of the photonic crystal fiber. The experimental results agree well with the theoretical expectation.

Mode characteristics of metallically coated square microcavity connected with an output waveguide

Mode characteristics of a square microcavity with an output waveguide on the middle of one side, laterally confined by an insulating layer SiO2 and a p-electrode metal Au, are investigated by two-dimensional finite-difference time-domain technique. The mode quality (Q) factors versus the width of the output waveguide are calculated for Fabry-Peacuterot type and whispering-gallery type modes in the square cavity. Mode coupling between the confined modes in the square cavity and the guided modes in the output waveguide determines the mode Q factors, which is greatly influenced by the symmetry behaviors of the modes. Fabry-Peacuterot type modes can also have high Q factors due to the high reflectivity of the Au layer for the vertical incident mode light rays. For the square cavity with side length 4 mu m and refractive index 3.2, the mode Q factors of the Fabry-Peacuterot type modes can reach 10(4) at the mode wavelength of 1.5 mu m as the output waveguide width is 0.4 mu m.

Analysis of coupled microcircular resonators coupled to a bus waveguide with high output efficiency

Coupled microcircular resonators tangentially coupled to a bus waveguide, which is between the resonators, are numerically investigated by the finite-difference time-domain technique. For symmetrically coupled microcircular resonators with refractive index of 3.2, radius of 2 mu m, and width of the bus waveguide of 0.4 mu m, a mode Q factor of the order of 105 is obtained for a mode at the frequency of 243 THz. An output coupling efficiency of as high as 0.99 is calculated for a mode with a Q factor ranging from 10(3) to 10(4). The mode Q factor is 2 orders larger than that of the modes confined in a single circular resonator tangentially coupled to the same bus waveguide. Furthermore, the high Q traveling modes in the coupled microcircular resonators are suitable for optical single processing.

Enhancement of the far-field output power and the beam properties of plasmonic very small aperture lasers

The properties of plasmonic very small aperture lasers are shown: these integrate surface plasmon structures with very small aperture lasers. The transmission field can be confined to a spot of subwavelength width in the far field, and according to the finite difference time domain simulation results the focal length of the spot can be modulated using different ring periods. Scanning of the subwavelength gating in the far field has been realized numerically. Such a device can be used with a high-resolution far-field scanning optical microscope.

High-performance 2 mm gate width GaNHEMTs on 6H-SiC with output power of 22.4 W @ 8 GHz

Optimized AlGaN/AlN/GaN high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) structures were grown on 2-in semi-insulating (SI) 6H-SiC substrate by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD). The 2-in. HEMT wafer exhibited a low average sheet resistance of 305.3 Omega/sq with a uniformity of 3.85%. The fabricated large periphery device with a dimension of 0.35 pm x 2 nun demonstrated high performance, with a maximum DC current density of 1360 mA/mm, a transconductance of 460 mS/mm, a breakdown voltage larger than 80 V, a current gain cut-off frequency of 24 GHz and a maximum oscillation frequency of 34 GHz. Under the condition of continuous-wave (CW) at 9 GHz, the device achieved 18.1 W output power with a power density of 9.05 W/mm and power-added-efficiency (PAE) of 36.4%. While the corresponding results of pulse condition at 8 GHz are 22.4 W output power with 11.2 W/mm power density and 45.3% PAE. These are the state-of-the-art power performance ever reported for this physical dimension of GaN HEMTs based on SiC substrate at 8 GHz. (c) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Mechanism of enhancing output power of plasmonic very-small-aperture lasers

Light transmission through a single subwavelength slit surrounded by periodic grooves in layered films consisting of Au and dielectric material is analyzed by the finite difference time domain method in two dimensions. The results show that the transmission field can be enhanced by the corrugations on the output plane, which is a supplementary explanation for the extraordinary optical transmission.

Enhancement of the light output power of InGaN/GaN light-emitting diodes grown on pyramidal patterned sapphire substrates in the micro- and nanoscale

Sapphire substrates were patterned by a chemical wet etching technique in the micro- and nanoscale to enhance the light output power of InGaN/GaN light-emitting diodes (LEDs). InGaN/GaN LEDs on a pyramidal patterned sapphire substrate in the microscale (MPSS) and pyramidal patterned sapphire substrate in the nanoscale (NPSS) were grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition. The characteristics of the LEDs fabricated on the MPSS and NPSS prepared by wet etching were studied and the light output powers of the LEDs fabricated on the MPSS and NPSS increased compared with that of the conventional LEDs fabricated on planar sapphire substrates. In comparison with the planar sapphire substrate, an enhancement in output power of about 29% and 48% is achieved with the MPSS and NPSS at an injection current of 20 mA, respectively. This significant enhancement is attributable to the improvement of the epitaxial quality of GaN-based epilayers and the improvement of the light extraction efficiency by patterned sapphire substrates. Additionally, the NPSS is more effective to enhance the light output power than the MPSS. (c) 2008 American Institute of Physics.

High-power operation of uncoated strain-compensated quantum cascade lasers at 4.8 mu m

High-power operation of uncoated 22-mu m-wide quantum cascade lasers (QCLs) emitting at lambda approximate to 4.8 mu m is reported. The emitting region of the QCL structure consists of a 30-period strain-compensated In0.68Ga0.32As/In0.37Al0.63As superlattice. For a 4-mm-long laser in pulsed mode, a peak output power is achieved in excess of 2240mW per facet at 81K with a threshold current density of 0.64kA/cm(2). The effects of varying the cavity lengths from 1 to 4mm on the performances of the QCLs are analysed in detail and the low waveguide loss of only about 1.4 cm(-1) is extracted.

Diode-pumped self-starting mode-locked Nd : YVO4 laser with semiconductor saturable absorber output coupler

By using a semiconductor saturable-absorber output coupler as a mode-locking device, we experimentally realized the operation of a diode-pumped passively mode-locked Nd:YVO4 laser. Stable laser pulses with duration of 2.3 ps were generated at the output power of about 1 W. With increasing the pump power to 9 W, the maximum mode-locked power of 1.7 W was obtained, which corresponds to a slope conversion efficiency of 44% and optical-to-optical conversion efficiency of 19%.

Wide-band polarization-insensitive high-output-power semiconductor optical amplifier based on thin tensile-strained bulk InGaAs

A polarization-insensitive semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) with a very thin active tensile-strained InGaAs bulk has been fabricated. The polarization sensitivity of the amplifier gain is less than 1 dB over both the entire range of driving current and the 3 dB optical bandwidth of more than 80 nm. For optical signals of 1550 nm wavelength, the SOA exhibits a high saturation output power +7.6 dBm together with a low noise figure of 7.5 dB, fibre-to-fibre gain of 11.5 dB, and low polarization sensitivity of 0.5 dB. Additionally, at the gain peak 1520 nm, the fibre-to-fibre gain is measured to be 14.1 dB.

Monolithically integrated semiconductor optical amplifier and electroabsorption modulator with dual-waveguide spot-size converter input and output

We have demonstrated an electroabsorption modulator and semiconductor optical amplifier monolithically integrated with novel dual-waveguide spot-size converters (SSC) at the input and output ports for low-loss coupling to a planar light-guide circuit silica waveguide or cleaved single-mode optical fibre. The device was fabricated by means of selective-area MOVPE growth, quantum well intermixing and asymmetric twin waveguide technologies with only a three-step low-pressure MOVPE growth. For the device structure, in the SOA/EAM section, a double ridge structure was employed to reduce the EAM capacitances and enable high bit-rate operation. In the SSC sections, buried ridge structure (BRS) was incorporated. Such a combination of ridge, ATG and BRS structure is reported for the first time in which it can take advantage of easy processing of the ridge structure and the excellent mode characteristic of BRS. At the wavelength range of 1550-1600 nm, lossless operation with extinction ratios of 25 dB dc and more than 10 GHz 3 dB bandwidth is successfully achieved, The beam divergence angles of the input and output ports of the device are as small as 8.0 degrees x 12.6 degrees, resulting in 3.0 dB coupling loss with a cleaved single-mode optical fibre.

Monolithically integrated laser diode and electroabsorption modulator with dual-waveguide spot-size converter input and output

We have demonstrated a 1.60 mu m ridge-structure laser diode and electroabsorption modulator monolithically integrated with buried-ridge-structure dual-waveguide spot-size converters at the input and output ports for low-loss coupling to a cleaved single-mode optical fibre by means of selective area growth and asymmetric twin waveguide technologies. The devices emit in single transverse and quasi-single longitudinal modes with a side mode suppression ratio of 25.6 dB. These devices exhibit 3 dB modulation bandwidth of 15.0 GHz and modulator extinction ratios of 14.0 dB dc. The output beam divergence angles of the spot-size converter in the horizontal and vertical directions are as small as 7.3 degrees x 10.6 degrees, respectively, resulting in 3.0 dB coupling loss with a cleaved single-mode optical fibre.

Enhancement of the far-field output power and the properties of the very-small-aperture lasers

We report on a VSAL structure fabricated by a 650 nm edge emitting laser diode with an Au-coated facet and an aperture size of 250 x 500 nm. The far field output power can maintain at 1 mW and the power density is 7.5 mW/mu m(2). Some properties of the VSAL including the threshold current change, the red-shift of the spectral position, and the strong relative-intensity-noise are presented. The physical mechanisms responsible for these phenomena are also discussed, which may contribute to the understanding and application of the potential device for near-field optics.

2-ps passively mode-locked Nd : YVO4 laser using an output-coupling-type semiconductor saturable absorber mirror

We have demonstrated stable self-starting passive mode-locking in a diode-end-pumped Nd: YVO4 laser using a semiconductor saturable absorber mirror (SESAM). An ln(0.25)Ga(0.75)As single quantum-well SESAM, which was grown by the metalorganic chemical-vapor deposition technique at low temperature, acts as a passive mode-locking device and an output coupler at the same time. Continuous-wave mode-locked transform-limited pulses were obtained at 1064 nm with a pulse duration of 2.1 ps and an average output power of 1.28 W at a repetition rate of 96.5 MHz. (c) 2005 American Institute of Physics.