Optical spectral relation between the master and the frequency-locked slave lasers

In this paper, the spectral relation between the master and the frequency-locked slave laser (FLSL) is investigated by the conventional technique of optical intensity modulation and optical heterodyne. Experimentally, we demonstrate that under complete and stable locking condition, the lightwave of the FLSL and the sidebands of the master laser produced by the optical intensity modulation are perfectly coherent (frequency coherence). Referring to our recent studies, the lightwave of the master laser and its corresponding sidebands are also perfectly coherent. Additionally, the spectral structures of two perfectly coherent lightwaves are identical in the level of wave train. Therefore, we indirectly verify that the spectral structures of the FLSL and the master laser are identical in the level of wave train.

Role of Bi3+ ions for Er3+ ions efficient 1.54 mu m light emission in Er/Bi codoped SiO2 thin film prepared by sol-gel method

Er/Bi codoped SiO2 thin films were prepared by sol-gel method and spin-on technology with subsequent annealing process. The bismuth silicate crystal phase appeared at low annealing temperature while vanished as annealing temperature exceeded 1000 degrees C, characterized by X-ray diffraction, and Rutherford backscattering measurements well explained the structure change of the films, which was due to the decrease of bismuth concentration. Fine structures of the Er3+-related 1.54 mu m light emission (line width less than 7 nm) at room temperature was observed by photoluminescence (PL) measurement. The PL intensity at 1.54 gm reached maximum at 800 degrees C and decreased dramatically at 1000 degrees C. The PL dependent annealing temperature was studied and suggested a clear link with bismuth silicate phase. Excitation spectrum measurements further reveal the role of Bi3+ ions for Er3+ ions near infrared light emission. Through sol-gel method and thermal treatment, Bi3+ ions can provide a perfect environment for Er3+ ion light emission by forming Er-Bi-Si-O complex. Furthermore, energy transfer from Bi3+ ions to Er3+ ions is evidenced and found to be a more efficient way for Er3+ ions near infrared emission. This makes the Bi3+ ions doped material a promising application for future erbium-doped waveguide amplifier and infrared LED

Investigation on multiple-port microcylinder lasers based on coupled modes

Microcylinder resonators with multiple ports connected to waveguides are investigated by 2D finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) simulation for realizing microlasers with multiple outputs. For a 10 mu m radius microcylinder with a refractive index of 3.2 and three 2 mu m wide waveguides, confined mode at the wavelength of 1542.3 nm can have a mode Q factor of 6.7 x 10(4) and an output coupling efficiency of 0.76. AlGaInAs/InP microcylinder lasers with a radius of 10 mu m and a 2 mu m wide output waveguide are fabricated by planar processing techniques. Continuous-wave electrically injected operation is realized with a threshold current of 4 mA at room temperature, and the jumps of output power are observed accompanying a lasing mode transformation.

Low threshold lasing of GaN-based vertical cavity surface emitting lasers with an asymmetric coupled quantum well active region

We have fabricated and characterized GaN-based vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSELs) with a unique active region structure, in which three sets of InGaN asymmetric coupled quantum wells are placed in a half-wavelength (0.5 lambda) length. Lasing action was achieved under optical pumping at room temperature with a threshold pumping energy density of about 6.5 mJ/cm(2). The laser emitted a blue light at 449.5 nm with a narrow linewidth below 0.1 nm and had a high spontaneous emission factor of about 3.0x10(-2). The results indicate that this active region structure is useful in reducing the process difficulties and improving the threshold characteristics of GaN-based VCSELs.

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.

Optical microwave generation based on DFB lasers

A new device of two parallel distributed feedback ( DFB) laser integrated monolithically with Y-branch waveguide coupler was fabricated by means of quantum well intermixing. Optical microwave signal was generated in the Y-branch waveguide coupler through frequency beating of the two laser modes coming from two DFB lasers in parallel, which had a small difference in frequency. Continuous rapidly tunable optical microwave signals from 13 GHz to 42 GHz were realized by adjusting independently the driving currents injected into the two DFB lasers.

Strong visible and infrared photoluminescence from Er-implanted silicon nitride films

Silicon nitride films were deposited by plasma-enhanced chemical-vapour deposition. The films were then implanted with erbium ions to a concentration of 8 x 10(20) cm(-3). After high temperature annealing, strong visible and infrared photoluminescence (PL) was observed. The visible PL consists mainly of two peaks located at 660 and 750 nm, which are considered to originate from silicon nanocluster (Si-NCs) and Si-NC/SiNx interface states. Raman spectra and HRTEM measurements have been performed to confirm the existence of Si-NCs. The implanted erbium ions are possibly activated by an energy transfer process, leading to a strong 1.54 mu m PL.

High performance 1689-nm quantum well diode lasers

1689-nm diode lasers used in medical apparatus have been fabricated and characterized. The lasers had pnpn InP current confinement structure, and the active region consisted of 5 pairs of InGaAs quantum wells and InGaAsP barriers. Stripe width and cavity length of the laser were 1.8 and 300 pm, respectively. After being cavity coated. and transistor outline (TO) packaged, the lasers showed high performance in practice. The threshold current was about 13 +/- 4 mA, the operation current and the lasing spectrum were about 58 6 mA and 1689 +/- 6 nm at 6-mW output power, respectively. Moreover, the maximum output power of the lasers was above 20 mW.

Subtraction of scattering parameters for adiabatic intrinsic responses of semiconductor lasers

Thermal effects will make chip temperature change with bias current of semiconductor lasers, which results in inaccurate intrinsic response by the conventional subtraction method. In this article, an extended subtraction method of scattering parameters for characterizing adiabatic responses of laser diode is proposed. The pulsed injection operation is used to determine the chip temperature of packaged semiconductor laser, and an optimal injection condition is obtained by investigating the dependence of the lasing wavelength on the width and period of the injection pulse in a relatively wide temperature range. In this case, the scattering parameters of laser diode are measured on adiabatic condition and the adiabatic intrinsic responses of packaged laser diode are first extracted. It is found that the adiabatic intrinsic responses are evidently superior to those without thermal consideration. The analysis results indicate that inclusion of thermal. effects is necessary to acquire accurate intrinsic responses of semiconductor lasers. (C) 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

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.

Influence of fused interface on the optical and thermal characteristics of vertical cavity lasers

From the effective absorption coefficient of bonded interface and the relationship of interface to reflectivity at cavity mode for double bonded vertical cavity laser, it can be seen that bonded interfaces should be positioned at the null of standing wave distribution, and the thickness of interface should be less than 20 nm. Using the finite elements method, the temperature contour map of laser can be calculated. Results showed that the influence of thin interface to thermal characteristics of VCSELS is slight, while thick interface will lead to temperature increase of active region. SEM images demonstrate that hydrophobic bonding is suitable for the fabrication of the device, while hydrophilic bonding interface is unfavorable to optical and thermal properties of devices with interface thickness larger than 40 nm.

GaSb based midinfrared equilateral-triangle-resonator semiconductor lasers

Theoretical calculations of the mode characteristics of an equilateral-triangle resonator (ETR) with a 10 mu m cavity side length show that the fundamental mode, with longitudinal mode index of 25, has a wavelength of 2.185 mu m and a longitudinal mode separation of 100 nm. This mode has a quality factor (similar to 2x10(5)) that is much larger than the first (similar to 5x10(4)) and second (similar to 3x10(4)) order modes, indicating that single fundamental mode lasing should be accessible over a broad wavelength tuning range. An electrically injected ETR based on this design is fabricated from an InGaAsSb/AlGaAsSb/GaSb, graded-index separate-confinement heterostructure, laser diode wafer with a 2.1 mu m emission wavelength. This device achieved single mode, continuous wave operation at 77 K with a threshold current of 0.5 mA and a single mode wavelength tuning range of 3.25 nm, which is accomplished by varying the injection current from 0.5 to 6.0 mA. (C) 2008 American Vacuum Society.

A novel butt-joint scheme for the preparation of electro-absorptive lasers

A 1.55 mu m InGaAsP/InGaAsP multiple-quantum-well electro-absorption modulator (EAM) monolithically integrated with a distributed feedback laser (DFB) diode has been realized based on a novel butt-joint scheme by ultra-low metal-organic vapour phase epitaxy for the first time. The threshold current of 25 mA and an extinction ratio of more than 30 dB are obtained by using the novel structure. The beam divergence angles at the horizontal and vertical directions are as small as 19.3 degrees x 13 degrees, respectively, without a spot-size converter by undercutting the InGaAsP active region. The capacitance of the ridge waveguide device with a deep mesa buried by polyimide was reduced down to 0.30 pF.

Analysis of the additional modulation of semiconductor lasers using optical heterodyne techniques

In this letter, the power spectrum of a cooled distributed feedback laser module is measured using the self-heterodyne technique. Periodical oscillation peaks have been observed in the measurement. Further investigation shows that the additional modulation signal is coupled from the thermal electric cooler (TEC) controller to the laser driver, and then applied to the laser diode. The additional modulation can be eliminated by properly isolating the laser driving source from the TEC controller.

Hyperfine spectral structure of semiconductor lasers

In this paper, we propose an interference technique that can provide a quantitative and ultrafine-resolution spectral analysis because the optical heterodyning is performed at nonzero frequency and interfering waves propagate in optical fiber. The spectrum of a laser consists of a large number of wave trains. Our study is focused on the features of wave trains. We demonstrate that wave trains emitting simultaneously have random frequency spacings, and the probability of occurrence of two or more joint wave trains with the same frequency is high. The estimated linewidth of the wave train is narrower than 1 mHz, corresponding to a wavelength range of 10(-23) m.