High-energy (59 pJ) and low-jitter (250 fs) picosecond pulses from gain-switching of a tapered-stripe laser diode via resonant driving

High-energy (59 pJ), low-jitter (250 fs), high-extinction ratio (800), and short (14.5 ps FWHM) pulses were generated by gain-switching of a tapered stripe gain-guided laser diode (LD) via resonant driving. These characteristics are attributed to a stable single-mode near-field pattern, a single-lobe far-field pattern, and multilongitudinal modes associated with the tapered stripe LD under high driving current pulses. These pulses from a comb generator were enhanced mainly from reflection at the LD-transmission line impedance mismatch; the line length was adjusted for resonance with the reflection from the step recovery diode, further increasing the driving current.