Bloch oscillation under a bichromatic laser: Dynamical delocalization and localization, persistent terahertz emission, and harmonics generation

A novel AC driving configuration is proposed for biased semiconductor superlattices, in which the THz driving is provided by an intense bichromatic cw laser in the visible light range. The frequency difference between two components of the laser is resonant with the Bloch oscillation. Thus, multi-photon processes mediated by the conduction (valence) band states lead to dynamical delocalization and localization of the valence (conduction) electrons, and to the formation and collapse of quasi-minibands. Thus, driven Bloch oscillators are predicted to generate persistent THz emission and harmonics of the dipole field, which are tolerant of the exciton and the relaxation effects.

Influence of lateral propagating modes on laser output characteristics in selectively oxidized vertical cavity surface-emitting lasers with double oxide layers

The influence of lateral propagating modes on the threshold current and the spontaneous emission factor in selectively oxidized vertical cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) is investigated based on the mode behaviors of lateral propagating modes and the rate equation model. The numerical results show that the lateral propagating modes may be trapped in the aperture region for the selectively oxidized VCSEL with two oxide layers, one above and one below the active region. The output characteristics of VCSELs can be affected due to the reabsorption of the quasitrapped lateral propagating modes. A lower threshold current can be expected for a VCSEL with double oxide layers than that with a single oxide layer. The numerical results of rate equations also show that a larger spontaneous emission factor can be obtained by fitting the output-input curves for the VCSEL with double oxide layers. (C) 1999 American Institute of Physics. [S0021-8979(99)07919-0].

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.

Fabrication and characterization of TO packaged high-speed laser modules - art. no. 682407

Various high-speed laser modules are fabricated by TO-Packaged processes, such as FP laser modules, DFB laser modules, and VCSEL modules. Furthermore,, the resonance among the circuit elements provides an approach to compensating the TO packaging parasitics, and improving the frequency response of the devices. The detailed equivalent circuit model is established to investigate both the laser diode and packaging comprehensively. The small-signal modulation bandwidths of the TO packaged FP laser, DFB laser and the VCSEL modules are more than 10, 9.7 and 8 GHz, respectively.

Wavelength tunable distributed Bragg reflector laser integrated with electro-absorption modulator by a combined method of selective area growth and quantum well intermixing - art. no. 68240N

Wavelength tunable electro-absorption modulated distributed Bragg reflector lasers (TEMLs) are promising light source in dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) optical fiber communication system due to high modulation speed, small chirp, low drive voltage, compactness and fast wavelength tuning ability. Thus, increased the transmission capacity, the functionality and the flexibility are provided. Materials with bandgap difference as large as 250nm have been integrated on the same wafer by a combined technique of selective area growth (SAG) and quantum well intermixing (QWI), which supplies a flexible and controllable platform for the need of photonic integrated circuits (PIC). A TEML has been fabricated by this technique for the first time. The component has superior characteristics as following: threshold current of 37mA, output power of 3.5mW at 100mA injection and 0V modulator bias voltage, extinction ratio of more than 20 dB with modulator reverse voltage from 0V to 2V when coupled into a single mode fiber, and wavelength tuning range of 4.4nm covering 6 100-GHz WDM channels. A clearly open eye diagram is observed when the integrated EAM is driven with a 10-Gb/s electrical NRZ signal. A good transmission characteristic is exhibited with power penalties less than 2.2 dB at a bit error ratio (BER) of 10(-10) after 44.4 km standard fiber transmission.

Controlled growth of III-V compound semiconductor nano-structures and their application in quantum-devices

Various techniques on the growth of self-assembled compound semiconductor nano-structures (quantum dots, QDs) have been tried to enhance the controlling on size, density, emitting wavelength, uniformity in size and ordering in location of the QDs. Optimized growth conditions have been used in the application of the QD materials in opto-electronic devices. High-power long-lifetime quantum-dot laser-diodes (QD-LDs) emitting near 1 mu m, QD-LDs emitting in red-light range, 1.3 mu m QD-LDs on GaAs substrate and quantum-dot super-luminescent diodes (QD-SLDs) have successfully been achieved.

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.

LD side-pumped high beam quality passive Q-switched and mode-locked Nd:YAG laser based on SESAM

We report a LD side-pumped fundamental-mode (Mx(2) = 1.35 and My(2) = 1.27) passive Q-switched and mode-locked Nd:YAG laser based on a semiconductor saturable absorber mirror (SESAM). At a pump current of 12.5 A, the average output power of 5.68 W with 80 kHz repetition rate and 2 mu s pulse width of the Q-switched envelope was generated. The repetition rate of the mode-locked pulse within the Q-switched envelope of 88 MHz was achieved.

Study on pulsed laser ablation and deposition of ZnO thin films by L-MBE

ZnO, as a wide-band gap semiconductor, has recently become a new research focus in the field of ultraviolet optoelectronic semiconductors. Laser molecular beam epitaxy (L-MBE) is quite useful for the unit cell layer-by-layer epitaxial growth of zinc oxide thin films from the sintered ceramic target. The ZnO ceramic target with high purity was ablated by KrF laser pulses in an ultra high vacuum to deposit ZnO thin film during the process of L-MBE. It is found that the deposition rate of ZnO thin film by L-MBE is much lower than that by conventional pulsed laser deposition (PLD). Based on the experimental phenomena in the ZnO thin film growth process and the thermal-controlling mechanism of the nanosecond (ns) pulsed laser ablation of ZnO ceramic target, the suggested effective ablating time during the pulse duration can explain the very low deposition rate of the ZnO film by L-MBE. The unique dynamic mechanism for growing ZnO thin film is analyzed. Both the high energy of the deposition species and the low growth rate of the film are really beneficial for the L-MBE growth of the ZnO thin film with high crystallinity at low temperature.

CHARACTERIZATION OF PHOTOCONDUCTIVE SEMICONDUCTOR SWITCHES UNDER NONLINEAR MODE CONDITION

A photoconductive semiconductor switch (PCSS) would work in a nonlinear mode under high biased electrical field. The experimental results of nonlinear critical state have shown that both the biased voltage and the laser energy may have working thresholds to turn on the nonlinear modes. The relation between the biased voltage (aid the laser energy is inverse ratio, i.e., higher biased field need lower laser energy for nonlinear mode, and vise versa. At the nonlinear critical point, the output of PCSS is unstable, as both the linear and nonlinear pulse may occur. As the laser energy and biased field increase, the PCSS would work in the nonlinear mode steadily. (C) 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 51: 56-59 2009; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOT 10.1002/mop.24001

Broadly tunable SOA-based active mode-locked fibre ring laser by forward injection optical pulse

We present a broadly tunable active mode- locked. bre ring laser based on a semiconductor optical ampli. er ( SOA), with forward injection optical pulses. The laser can generate pulse sequence with pulsewidth about 12 ps and high output power up to 8.56dBm at 2.5 GHz stably. Incorporated with a wavelength- tunable optical bandpass. lter, the pulse laser can operate with a broad wavelength tunable span up to 37nm with almost constant pulsewidth. A detailed experimental analysis is also carried out to investigate the relationship between the power of the internal cavity and the pulsewidth of the output pulse sequence. The experimental con. guration of the pulse laser is very simple and easy to setup with no polarization- sensitive components.

40-GHz wavelength tunable mode-locked SOA-based fiber laser with 40-nm tuning range

A 40-GHz wavelength tunable mode-locked fiber ring laser based oil cross-gain modulation in a semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) is presented. Pulse trains with a pulse width of 10.5 ps at 40-GHz repetition frequency are obtained. The laser operates with almost 40-nm tuning range. The relationship between the key laser parameters and the output pulse characteristics is analyzed experimentally.

SOA-based actively mode-locked fiber ring laser by forward injecting an external pulse train

An actively mode-locked fiber ring laser based on cross-gain modulation (XGM) in a semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) is demonstrated to operate stably with a simple configuration. By forward injecting an easily-generated external pulse train, the mode-locked fiber laser can generate an optical-pulse sequence with pulsewidth about 6 ps and average output power about 7.9 mW. The output pulses show an ultra-low RMS jitter about 70.7 fs measured by a RF spectrum analyzer. The use of the proposed forward-injection configuration can realize the repetition-rate tunability from I to 15 GHz for the generated optical-pulse sequences. By employing a wavelength-tunable optical band-pass filter in the laser cavity, the operation wavelength of the designed SOA-based actively mode-locked fiber laser can be tuned continuously in a wide span between 1528 and 1565 nm. The parameters of external-injection optical pulses are studied experimentally to optimize the mode-locked fiber laser. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

MEASUREMENT AND SIMULATION OF THE TURN-ON DELAY TIME JITTER IN GAIN-SWITCHED SEMICONDUCTOR-LASERS

The turn-on delay time jitter of four different unbiased gain-switched laser types is determined by measuring the temporal probability distribution of the leading edge of the emitted optical pulse. One single-mode 1.5-mu-m distributed feed-back laser and three multimode Fabry-Perot lasers emitting at 750 nm and 1.3-mu-m are investigated. The jitter is found to decrease for all lasers with increasing injection current. For multimode lasers it decreases from 8 ps excited slightly above threshold down to below 2 ps at three times the threshold current. The jitter of the distributed feedback (DFB) laser is a factor of 3-5 larger than the jitter of the three multimode lasers. A new model to predict the turn-on delay time jitter is presented and explains the experiments quantitatively.