Measurement of gain spectrum for Fabry-Perot semiconductor lasers by the Fourier transform method with a deconvolution process

To improve the accuracy of measured gain spectra, which is usually limited by the resolution of the optical spectrum analyzer (OSA), a deconvolution process based on the measured spectrum of a narrow linewidth semiconductor laser is applied in the Fourier transform method. The numerical simulation shows that practical gain spectra can be resumed by the Fourier transform method with the deconvolution process. Taking the OSA resolution to be 0.06, 0.1, and 0.2 nm, the gain-reflectivity product spectra with the difference of about 2% are obtained for a 1550-nm semiconductor laser with the cavity length of 720 /spl mu/m. The spectra obtained by the Fourier transform method without the deconvolution process and the Hakki-Paoli method are presented and compared. The simulation also shows that the Fourier transform method has less sensitivity to noise than the Hakki-Paoli method.     

Engineering laser gain spectrum using electronic vertically coupled InAs-GaAs quantum dots

Continuous large-broad laser gain spectra near 1.3 /spl mu/m are obtained using an active region of electronic vertically coupled (EVC) InAs-GaAs quantum dots (QDs). A wide continuous electroluminescence spectrum, unlike that from conventional uncoupled InAs QD lasers, was obtained around 230 nm (below threshold) with a narrow lasing spectrum. An internal differential quantum efficiency as high as 90%, a maximum measured external differential efficiency of 73% for a stripe-length of L=1 mm, and a threshold current density for zero total optical loss as low as 7 A/cm/sup 2/ per QD layer were achieved.     

Light amplification and lasing in a stilbenoid compound-doped glass-clad polymer optical fiber

We report on a large optical gain, over the wide spectral range, and lasing in a glass-clad polymer optical fiber that uses a novel highly fluorescent stilbenoid compound. The compound 1,4-bis(4-diphenylamino-styryl)-benzene is designed for the blue region of the spectrum and has a high quantum yield of 0.85 in polystyrene and a relatively large Stokes shift of /spl sim/50 nm. A fiber doped with 0.2-wt.% of the compound is photoexcited with a thin striped-shape area at 355 nm with nanosecond optical pulses, and the emission from one end is monitored as a function of the excitation length to deduce the net gain coefficient. The gain spectroscopy has revealed a broad optical gain exceeding 25 cm/sup -1/ and up to 36 cm/sup -1/ at 494 nm that covers a wide spectral range of about 70 nm when the fiber is transversely photoexcited at 12 mJ/cm/sup 2/ at room temperature. An analysis shows that the saturation effect expected for homogeneously broadened gain accounts for the amplified spontaneous emission output behavior at longer excitation lengths. Waveguide loss is measured to be 0.7 cm/sup -1/ at 494 nm. The large gain and low loss have been utilized to demonstrate blue laser emission at 489 nm from the fiber (which is only 1.4 cm in length) in a low finesse cavity defined by the Fresnel reflections at the fiber-air interfaces. The threshold for lasing is found to be 1.7 mJ/cm/sup 2/.     

Optical gain and absorption of quantum dots measured using an alternative segmented contact method

An alternative segmented-contact method for accurate measurement of the optical gain and absorption of quantum-dot and quantum-dash active materials with small optical gain is reported. The usual error from unguided spontaneous emission is reduced by subtracting signals acquired from three independently controlled sections as opposed to just two found in the conventional technique. The quantum-dot gain spectra are measured to a precision of less than 0.2 cm/sup -1/ at nominal gain values below 2 cm/sup -1/, and gain spectrum of quantum-dash sample is calculated with an error less than 0.3 cm/sup -1/ at a gain less than 1 cm/sup -1/. These accuracies are checked with a self-calibrating method. The internal optical mode loss measurement is also described.     

Gain saturation coefficients of strained-layer multiple quantum-well distributed feedback lasers

The gain saturation coefficients were measured for strained and unstrained multiple quantum-well distributed feedback (MQW-DFB) lasers. The gain saturation coefficient depends on the deviation of the laser's transverse-magnetic (TM) mode gain peak wavelength from its transverse-electric (TE) mode gain peak wavelength delta lambda , which is related to the strain on the active-layer wells. The gain saturation coefficient epsilon increased with increasing compressed strain on the active-layer wells. The coefficient epsilon of the unstrained MQW DFB laser with a wavelength deviation delta lambda of -350 AA was 2.45*10/sup -17/ cm/sup 3/, and epsilon increased up to 12.6*10/sup -17/ cm/sup 3/ in the SL-MQW DFB laser with a wavelength difference delta lambda of -890 AA.<>     

High-frequency modulation characteristics of 1.3-/spl mu/m InGaAs quantum dot lasers

In this letter, we report results of small-signal modulation characteristics of self-assembled 1.3-/spl mu/m InGaAs-GaAs quantum dot (QD) lasers at room temperature. The narrow ridge-waveguide lasers were fabricated with multistack InGaAs self-assembled QDs in active region. A high characteristic temperature of T/sub o/=210 K with threshold current density of 200A/cm/sup 2/ was obtained. Small-signal modulation bandwidth of f/sub -3 dB/=12 GHz was measured at 300 K with differential gain of dg/dn/spl cong/2.4/spl times/10/sup -14/ cm/sup 2/ from detailed characteristics. We observed that a limitation of modulation bandwidth in high current injection appeared with gain saturation. This property can direct future high-speed QD laser design.     

Minimal group refractive index dispersion and gain evolution in ultra-broad-band quantum cascade lasers

The group refractive index dispersion in ultra-broad-band quantum cascade (QC) lasers has been determined using Fabry-Perot spectra obtained by operating the lasers in continuous wave mode below threshold. In the wavelength range of 5-8 /spl mu/m, the global change of the group refractive index is as small as +8.2 /spl times/ 10/sup -3/ /spl mu/m/sup -1/. Using the method of Hakki and Paoli (1975), the subthreshold gain of the lasers has furthermore been measured as a function of wavelength and current. At the wavelength of best performance, 7.4 /spl mu/m, a modal gain coefficient of 16 cm/spl middot/kA/sup -1/ at threshold and a waveguide loss of 18 cm/sup -1/ have been estimated. The gain evolution confirms an earlier assumption that cross-absorption restricted laser action to above 6 /spl mu/m wavelength.     

High-modal gain 1300-nm In(Ga)As-GaAs quantum-dot lasers

A semiconductor laser containing seven InAs-InGaAs stacked quantum-dot (QD) layers was grown by molecular beam epitaxy. Shallow mesa ridge-waveguide lasers with stripe width of 120 /spl mu/m were fabricated and tested. A high modal gain of 41 cm/sup -1/ was obtained at room temperature corresponding to a modal gain of /spl sim/6 cm/sup -1/ per QD layer, which is very promising to enable the realization of 1.3-/spl mu/m ultrashort cavity devices such as vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers. Ground state laser action was achieved for a 360-/spl mu/m-cavity length with as-cleaved facets. The transparency current density per QD layer and internal quantum efficiency were 13 A/cm/sup 2/ and 67%, respectively.     

Laser emission and amplification at 1.3 mu m in neodymium-doped fluorophosphate fibres

Laser emission and amplification have been studied in the 1.3 mu m spectral region on the /sup 4/F/sub 3/2/-/sup 4/I/sub 13/2/ transition in Nd/sup 3+/-doped fluorophosphate singlemode fibres. Pumping at 800 nm yields an extracted laser power of 10 mW at 1.323 mu m. A gain higher than 3 dB was obtained at the same wavelength in the amplifier experiment.<>     

Real-time optical spectrum analyser based on chirped fibre Bragggratings

A real-time fibre optic spectrum analyser for optical pulses is realised. It is based on a chirped fibre Bragg grating and the formation of a time domain analogue of the Fraunhofer diffraction regime. The spectrum of a modelocked diode laser was measured, with a resolution of 0.3 nm, which can be easily improved to 0.06 nm     

InP-based optically pumped VECSEL operating CW at 1550 nm

We present a vertical external-cavity surface-emitting laser operating at 1550 nm. The laser comprises an InGaAsP-based gain element, with a resonant periodic gain structure on top of a distributed Bragg reflector, and a high reflectivity spherical mirror as the external reflector. Optical pumping is achieved using a 1250-nm fiber Raman laser. A maximum continuous output power of 70 mW was obtained under multitransverse mode operation at 233 K. Under single-mode operation, we obtained a maximum power of 60 mW with a beam quality factor M/sup 2/ less than 1.1.     

780 nm band TM-mode laser operation of GaAsP/AlGaAs tensile-strained quantum-well lasers

Tensile-strained active layer GaAs/AlGaAs separate-confinement-heterostructure quantum-well lasers are reported. These lasers oscillate in the 780 nm band in the TM mode by TM mode gain enhancement in the tensile-strained active layer. The threshold current density of single-quantum-well laser diodes increases rapidly with heatsink temperature. However, triple-quantum-well laser diodes with a cavity length of 485-110 mu m oscillated with a threshold current density of 1.4 and 3.0 kA/cm/sup 2/.<>     

1.3-/spl mu/m InAs quantum-dot laser with high dot density and high uniformity

We realized a triple-stacked 1.3-/spl mu/m InAs quantum dot (QD) with a high density of 2.4/spl times/10/sup 11/ cm/sup -2/ and a high uniformity of below 24 meV that employs an As/sub 2/ source and a gradient composition (GC) strain-reducing layer (SRL) grown on a GaAs substrate. We demonstrated the 1.3-/spl mu/m wavelength emission of this triple-stacked QD laser with a 0.92-mm cavity length and a cleaved facet at room temperature. In addition, we realized the highest maximum modal gain yet reported of 8.1 cm/sup -1/ per QD layer at beyond 1.28 /spl mu/m by using our high-density and high-uniformity QD.     

Carrier mobility in MOSFETs fabricated with Hf-Si-O-N gate dielectric, polysilicon gate electrode, and self-aligned source and drain

A study of electron and hole mobilities for MOSFET devices fabricated with Hf-Si-O-N gate dielectric, polysilicon gate electrodes and self-aligned source and drain is presented. High effective electron and hole mobilities, 250 cm/sup 2//V/spl middot/s and 70 cm/sup 2//V/spl middot/s, respectively, were measured at high effective field (>0.5 MV/cm). The NMOSFETs have an equivalent oxide thickness (EOT) of 1.3 nm and the PMOSFETs have an EOT of 1.5 nm. The effect of interface engineering on the electron and hole mobilities is discussed.     

Laser gain and current density in a disordered AlGaAs/GaAs quantum well

The laser gain and current density at room temperature are analysed for disordered (interdiffusion induced) Al/sub 0.3/Ga/sub 0.7/As/GaAs single quantum well structures at a carrier injection level of 4*10/sup 12/ cm/sup -2/. The results show that both the peak gain and current density remain about the same strength during the initial stages of disordering, and provide a bandwidth of 55 nm.<>     

Realization of dot DFB lasers

Dot lasers with first-, second- and third-order gain coupled distributed feedback (DFB) gratings have been realized by low damage dry etching in combination with wet chemical etching and epitaxial over-growth. This technique allows above room temperature (RT) operation of dot DFB lasers with dot diameters down to 85 nm. The laser spectra show the expected emission of gain coupled DFB lasers. Threshold current densities between 1.1 kA/cm/sup 2/ and 2.6 kA/cm/sup 2/ could be obtained depending on size of the active region. An improvement in T/sub 0/ could be demonstrated comparing 0-D/1-D/2-D lasers on the same wafer. Based on the dot grating geometry improvement of the side mode suppression ratio (SMSR) was observed for broad-area dot DFB lasers.     

Gain and energy storage in holmium YLF

It is demonstrated that Q-switched holmium lasers are capable of high-gain and high-energy operation at 300 K. Small-signal gain coefficients of 0.50 and 0.12 cm/sup -1/ have been measured in YLF and YAG, respectively. Small-signal gains of 0.50 cm/sup -1/ are comparable to those achievable in Nd-YAG and are not typical of low-gain materials. This large gain in the Ho:YLF material is made possible by operating the amplifier in the ground state depletion mode. The amplifier performance data and associated analysis presented demonstrate that efficient energy storage is possible with very high excited state ion densities of the Ho /sup 5/I/sub 7/ upper laser level. This is an important result since upconversion can limit the /sup 5/I/sub 7/ population. Although upconversion was still present in this experiment, it was possible to achieve efficient energy storage, demonstrating that the problem is manageable even at high excitation densities in YLF.<>     

Measurement of gain, group index, group velocity dispersion, and linewidth enhancement factor of an InGaN multiple quantum-well laser diode

Gain, group index, group velocity dispersion (GVD), temperature variation of refractive index, and linewidth enhancement factor of an In/sub 0.15/Ga/sub 0.85/N/In/sub 0.02/Ga/sub 0.98/N multiple quantum-well blue laser diode was measured using the Fourier transform method as a function of wavelength from 400 to 410 nm. At the lasing wavelength (403.5 nm), the group index is 3.4, the GVD (dn/sub g//d/spl lambda/) is -37 /spl mu/m/sup -1/, the temperature variation of refractive index dn/dT is 1.3/spl times/10/sup -4/ K/sup -1/, and the linewidth enhancement factor is 5.6.     

Fluoride-based erbium-doped fiber amplifier with inherently flat gain spectrum

We successfully developed a fluoride-based Er/sup 3+/-doped fiber amplifier (F-EDFA). An average signal gain of 26 dB was achieved for 8 channel wavelength division multiplexed (WDM) signals in the 1532-1560 nm wavelength region with a gain excursion of less than 1.5 dB at an input signal power of -20 dBm per channel. Furthermore, we studied the amplification characteristics of the F-EDFA for WDM signals. The following experimental results were obtained. (1) For an 8-channel WDM signal in the 1532 to 1560 nm wavelength region, the gain excursion between channels can be suppressed to within 1.5 dB. However, the wavelength region allowing a gain excursion of 1.5 dB, is between 1536-1560 nm for the silica-based Er/sup 3+/-doped fiber amplifier. (2) F-EDFAs have a flat gain region between 1534-1542 nm. The gain excursion of this region is less than 0.2 dB for WDM signals.     

Characterization of the temperature sensitivity of gain and recombination mechanisms in 1.3-/spl mu/m AlGaInAs MQW lasers

The potential of 1.3-/spl mu/m AlGaInAs multiple quantum-well (MQW) laser diodes for uncooled operation in high-speed optical communication systems is experimentally evaluated by characterizing the temperature dependence of key parameters such as the threshold current, transparency current density, optical gain and carrier lifetime. Detailed measurements performed in the 20/spl deg/C-100/spl deg/C temperature range indicate a localized T/sub 0/ value of 68 K at 98/spl deg/C for a device with a 2.8 /spl mu/m ridge width and 700-/spl mu/m cavity length. The transparency current density is measured for temperatures from 20/spl deg/C to 60/spl deg/C and found to increase at a rate of 7.7 A/spl middot/cm/sup -2//spl middot/ /spl deg/C/sup -1/. Optical gain characterizations show that the peak modal gain at threshold is independent of temperature, whereas the differential gain decreases linearly with temperature at a rate of 3/spl times/10/sup -4/ A/sup -1//spl middot//spl deg/C/sup -1/. The differential carrier lifetime is determined from electrical impedance measurements and found to decrease with temperature. From the measured carrier lifetime we derive the monomolecular ( A), radiative (B), and nonradiative Auger (C) recombination coefficients and determine their temperature dependence in the 20/spl deg/C-80/spl deg/C range. Our study shows that A is temperature independent, B decreases with temperature, and C exhibits a less pronounced increase with temperature. The experimental observations are discussed and compared with theoretical predictions and measurements performed on other material systems.