Highly reliable 200 mW AlGaAs laser diode with fundamental transverse mode

A highly reliable 200 mW AlGaAs laser diode with a fundamental transverse mode has been developed, by optimising its structure with a 0.8 mu m thick p-cladding layer, a 1200 mu m long cavity length, and a front facet coating with a low reflectivity of 2%. The maximum output power was 500 mW, and stable fundamental transverse mode operation was obtained up to 350 mW. Stable operation under 200 mW and 50 degrees C was confirmed for more than 1200 h. Optical feedback noise was below 3*10/sup -14/ Hz/sup -1/.<>     

High-power output over 200 mW of 1.3 µm GaInAsP VIPS lasers

Maximum CW output power was investigated in GaInAsP 1.3μm V-grooved inner stripe on P-substrate (VIPS) lasers considering both cavity length and facet reflectivity. Long-cavity lasers show a strong dependence of maximum output power on front reflectivity. A CW light output over 200 mW was obtained at room temperature using a 700 μm long cavity laser with 5 and 98 percent reflectivity of the front and rear facets, respectively. The fundamental transverse mode operation was confirmed up to 170 mW. A coupled power over 110 mW into a single-mode fiber was achieved with a coupling efficiency of 58 percent. We have verified the high reliability under high power levels, as high as 75 percent of the maximum CW output powers at room temperature.     

Optical properties of reactive ion etched corner reflectorstrained-layer InGaAs-GaAs-AlGaAs quantum-well lasers

The optical properties of strained-layer InGaAs-GaAs-AlGaAs quantum-well lasers with a cavity comprised of a single cleaved facet and a dry etched corner reflector (CR) is described. For comparison, these data are contrasted with data for Fabry-Perot lasers made from the same material and having either two cleaved facets or one cleaved and one straight-etched facet. The etched CR exhibits higher overall reflectivity than the straight-etched and cleaved facet structures, resulting in lower threshold current density and higher efficiency. However, near-field measurements indicate that improvement in reflectivity from the etched CRs is offset by their tendency to favor off-order transverse modes     

Lateral-mode selectivity in external-cavity diode lasers withresidual facet reflectivity

The relatively flat lateral gain profile across a wide-strip laser diode does not allow sufficient overlap with the Gaussian fundamental mode of an external resonator to achieve saturation of the gain in the wings of the mode profile. Thus, parasitic free-running oscillation of the diode in an external-cavity laser is permitted by residual facet reflectivity of the antireflection-coated diode, and degrades the lateral-mode-selectivity of the external resonator at injection currents exceeding the threshold of the solitary diode. A relation between the maximum injection current at which the external-cavity laser will operate in a single mode and the diode's facet reflectivity is given     

Monolithically integrated transverse-junction-stripe laser with anexternal waveguide in GaAs/AlGaAs

This device consists of a five-layer transverse-junction-stripe laser structure monolithically integrated with an external three-layer waveguide. The transverse p-n junction within the laser cavity permits the use of a vertical p-n junction in the external waveguide for future implementation of a modulator without disturbing the laser operation. As a result, this structure allows for flexibility in the design of the external waveguide/modulator without resorting to complicated regrowth procedures. Design curves for two different types of optical cavities are presented, and the reflectivity and transmission of the etched facet as a function of active layer thickness is modeled in detail using an excitation field approach. Finally, integrated laser/waveguide devices are fabricated based on this design and are compared to the theoretical curves. Most devices had threshold currents between 60 and 80 mA, while laser-to-waveguide transmission coefficients were as high as 38%     

Study on strain-induced polarization mode of strained-layerquantum-well 630-nm AlGaInP LD's

Low-threshold operation of 630-nm AlGaInP LD's is examined by introducing compressive and tensile strains into quantum wells (QW's), and the dependence of threshold currents on the effects of strain is investigated. We also try to determine the correlation between the strain-induced polarization mode and threshold currents so as to optimize the strained QW structure for low threshold operation. Experimental results reveal a good correlation when the same device parameters are used. Based on that correlation, applying the larger strain and the QW-structure design that enhances the main polarization mode is effective in obtaining a low threshold. Opposite dependences of the relative intensity of the polarization mode on such device parameters as cavity length and facet reflectivity are observed under the two types of strain. Under tensile strain, the polarization-mode intensity increases as the mirror loss increases and the device temperature rises     

Accurate measurement of reflectivity over wavelength of a laserdiode antireflection coating using an external cavity laser

A method for measuring laser diode facet antireflection coating over wavelength is presented. The laser diode is coupled to a wavelength-selective external cavity, and laser threshold current over the wavelength region of interest is measured. The coating reflectivity over wavelength is derived from the threshold current data. Reflectivities as low as 1×10^-5 have been measured with good fit over wavelength to an ideal single layer coating. The net external cavity feedback is also determined. An estimate of the accuracy of the reflectivity measurement is made     

Effect of strong optical feedback on vertical-cavitysurface-emitting lasers

An analysis is performed of the effects of strong optical feedback on the characteristics of single-transverse mode VCSEL's. Consideration is given to the cases of short (1.5 cm) and long (15 cm) external cavities. When the laser is operated well above threshold in a short external cavity with high reflectivity, a strong dependence on the accumulated external cavity phase is observed. Stable operation is found for an optimum phase while for other values of the phase, chaotic dynamics is observed. Such behavior is not seen near threshold where the laser output is stable for any accumulated phase. For the longer external cavity the influence of the phase term is found to be insignificant: chaotic behavior is seen in the output over a wide range of operating currents     

Bistability in grating-tuned external-cavity semiconductor lasers

Bistability has been observed in the tuning characteristic and power versus current relation of a 1.3 μm grating-tuned external-cavity semiconductor laser. Tuning-direction reversal, current variations, and feedback interruption can change the output power and threshold current at a given wavelength. These effects are shown theoretically to be due to the coupling of the semiconductor gain and index of refraction. From measurements of the semiconductor chip facet reflectivity, solitary laser diode mode spectrum, and tuning curve in the presence of external feedback, the analysis yields values for the external feedback strength, semiconductor modal loss, and linewidth enhancement factor. Using an InGaAsP double-channel-planar-buried-heterostructure laser diode with a 4 percent reflectivity antireflection-coated facet inside an external cavity consisting of a 0.60 numerical aperture lens and a 1200 line/mm diffraction grating, we found 22 percent external feedback, 60 cm^-1modal loss, and a linewidth enhancement factoralpha = -7.1.     

A new chemical etching technique for formation of cavity facets of (GaAl)As lasers

A new chemical etching technique which offers excellent cavity facets of Ga1-xAlxAs lasers is reported. This technique is based on our finding that the crystallographic anisotropy in the conventional etching process of Ga1-xAlxAs multilayers depends strongly on the AlAs mode fractionxin every layer. A suitable combination of the mole fractions in the multilayer is therefore a key factor for obtaining practically vertical walls with sufficient smoothness and flatness as laser cavity facets. In fact, the reflectivity of the etched facet obtained is 28 percent, being compatible to that in the conventional cleaved facets. As a result, a CW operation with threshold current as low as 28 mA and external quantum efficiency as high as 24 percent per facet has been attained with high reproducibility.     

双波长可调外腔半导体激光器

提出了一种基于体布拉格光栅（VBG）和横向啁啾体布拉格光栅（TCVBG）组合的双光栅外腔半导体激光器,该外腔半导体激光器采用反射率15%的体光栅和反射率17%的啁啾体布拉格光栅作为反馈元件和模式选择元件,实现特定波长的选择和调谐,实验研究了外腔激光器的功率-电流特性、光谱特性和波长调谐特性。实验结果表明:双光栅外腔半导体激光器最大输出功率为1.96 W,斜率效率为0.94 W/A,外腔效率达到78%。输出光谱为双波长,一个波长为808.6 nm,另一个波长连续可调,通过改变横向啁啾体光栅的位置,该波长可从800 nm调谐至815 nm,可调范围达15 nm,在整个可调范围内两个波长的谱线宽度（FWHM）均小于0.3 nm。     

Reflection-induced changes in the optical spectra of 980-nm QWlasers

High-power 980-nm strained quantum well diode lasers having low reflectivity facet coatings are sensitive to weak reflections that affect the laser emission spectrum. In devices having 0.2% output facet reflectivity, 2% reflections from an external plane mirror shifted the output spectrum from 970 to 1000 mn. Wavelength stabilization and improved immunity to spurious reflections were demonstrated using bulk grating and fiber-grating reflectors. Continuous laser tuning from 958 to 1011 nm was achieved with 1% net grating reflectivity     

Gain margin analysis of distributed feedback lasers for bothtransverse electric and magnetic modes

A theoretical analysis of the gain margin with both transverse electric (TE) and transverse magnetic (TM) modes in distributed feedback (DFB) lasers of second-order gratings and various structural parameters is presented. Though the dominant mode is usually a TE mode, one of the TM modes often becomes the secondary mode with the second lowest threshold and seriously affects the single-mode characteristics of DFB lasers. To design DFB lasers with a large gain margin, proper amounts of facet reflectivity for both polarizations and control of the spatial phase of the grating at the facet are required     

Power evolution of an actively mode-locked AlGaAs semiconductorlaser

Experimental observation and supporting theory on the power evolution of an actively mode-locked AlGaAs semiconductor laser (SL) under increasing bias current in the modulation range of 0.7-4.0 GHz are presented. It is shown that the useful bias current range in which solitary pulses are produced is limited by the pulse advancing within the modulation cycle with increasing bias current. An increase in the bias current allows threshold conditions to occur earlier, and the pulse advances to meet these conditions. The theory generalizes the coupling of the SL to the external cavity to include all values of the facet reflectivity. This results in two types of coupling-coherent coupling, which depends on both the SL and the external cavity state, and direct coupling, which depends solely on the external cavity state. The theory allows the coupling facet reflectivity to assume any value provided that the losses of the coupled system are small     

光纤光栅外腔半导体激光器的理论和实验分析

从耦合模理论出发,结合激光原理,研究了光纤光栅外腔半导体激光器(FBG-ECL)的理论模型．得到光纤光栅反射率的解析解。利用速率方程理论讨论FBG-ECL的高频响应特性。根据等效腔模型．讨论了耦合系数对FBG-ECL阈值特性的影响。指出存在最佳光纤光栅反射率．使得激光器不仅功率输出大,而且边模抑制比高。最后实测了不同反射率情况下激光器的激射光谱。     

Mode dependence on mirror contrast in Fabry-Perot microcavitylasers

Data are presented comparing the modal characteristics of short Fabry-Perot lasers having either AlAs/GaAs or higher contrast ZnSe/CaF ₂ mirrors. The far field radiation patterns, thresholds, and spectral characteristics of the lasing modes are studied with a variation of the transverse dimension of the active region. The loss of the lasing mode is studied in each cavity by comparing lasing threshold and transverse dimension of the mode for a range of pump diameters     

Uniform linear arrays of strained-layer InGaAs-AlGaAs quantum-wellridge-waveguide diode lasers fabricated by ECR-IBAE

Uniform linear arrays of strained-layer multiple-quantum-well InGaAs-AlGaAs ridge-waveguide diode lasers have been fabricated that operate near 980 nm and have low threshold currents I_th and high differential quantum efficiencies η_d. Uniformity was achieved by a combination of uniform ion-beam-assisted etching with an electron cyclotron resonance ion source and uniform organometallic vapor-phase epitaxial (OMVPE) growth. We investigated the effects of device geometry, namely, ridge width, cavity length, and remaining cladding thickness outside the ridge t, on I_th and η_d. For uncoated lasers with 500-μm-long cavities, 2- to 3-μm-wide ridges, and t=165±75 nm fabricated in double-quantum-well OMVPE material, I_th was typically in the range 6-7 mA and η_d was >40% per facet. A 24-element array of 2-μm-wide, 200-μm-long ridge-waveguide lasers with a high reflection coating on the back facet exhibited excellent uniformity, with threshold currents and single-ended differential quantum efficiencies that averaged 3.4 mA and 72%, respectively. Similar arrays with high-reflectivity coatings on both facets exhibited threshold currents as low as 2 mA     

外腔半导体激光器激射波长温度稳定性的研究

在考虑了光纤光栅(FG)的相位分布之后,根据光纤光栅外腔半导体激光器(FGESL)所满足的阈值条件,从理论上研究了前端面反射率对光纤光栅长外腔半导体激光器(LECFGSL)激射波长温度稳定性的影响.数值模拟的结果表明:随着温度的变化,LECFGSL的激射波长围绕光栅布拉格反射波长上下波动,激光器前端面反射率对激射波长波动幅度有较大的影响,当前端面反射率＜10-4时,激射波长与光栅布拉格反射波长基本一致,其温度稳定性较好.     

Very low threshold InGaAsP mesa laser

Very low threshold currents InGaAsP/InP terrace mesa (T-ME) lasers with an unpassivated surface have been fabricated on semi-insulating (SI) InP substrates. Fabrication of the lasers involves a single-step liquid phase epitaxial (LPE) growth and a simple etching process. Lasers operating in the fundamental transverse mode with threshold currents as low as 6.3 mA (for a cavity length of 250 μm) have been obtained. Comparison between the unpassivated lasers and those passivated using the mass transport technique is described.     

Low-threshold, high-power zero-order lateral-mode DQW-SCH metal-clad ridge waveguide (AlGa)As/GaAs lasers

Metal-clad ridge waveguide (MCRW), double quantum well, separately confined heterostrucuture (DQW-SCH) lasers have been fabricated having continuous-wave (CW) threshold currents of 10?12 mA and external differential quantum efficiencies of 41?46% per uncoated facet. Light/current characteristics are linear to >70 mW, and zero-order lateral mode operation was measured at 56 mW. The CW burn-off power density is nearly double the best previously reported value.