Wavelength Tuning of Vertical-Cavity Surface-Emitting Lasers by an Internal Device Heater (original) (raw)
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Optics Express, 2005
In this paper, we present an InP-based micromechanically tunable VCSEL emitting in the 1.55µm wavelength region with a 26nm tuning range. The laser is based on a two-chip concept, allowing for a separate optimization of the curved top mirror and the amplifying component. Current confinement is achieved by a buried tunnel junction. The design of the microcavity ensures fundamental mode operation with a side mode suppression ratio exceeding 49dB even for large apertures. Simulations indicate that the tuning range is limited by coupled cavity effects and reveal important design criteria like an upper boundary regarding the device thickness.
Applied Physics Letters, 2006
We demonstrate an original approach to achieving a tunable 1.55-µm vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser. The tunability is based on an electro-optic index modulator using nanosized droplets of liquid crystal as a phase layer. Such an approach can produce a robust and a low-cost device. A 10-nm tuning range with less than 170 V applied voltage has been demonstrated. The device is formed by a conventional InP-based active region with an epitaxial and a dielectric Bragg mirror. This optically pumped device exhibits an excellent side-mode suppression ratio of higher than 20-dB over the whole spectral range. PACS: 42.55.Px, 42.60.Fc, 61.30.Pq C. LEVALLOIS et al 2 Long-wavelength vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) operating at 1.3 µm and 1.5 µm have been extensively studied during the last decade. Their circular and spatial single-mode beam provides very efficient fiber coupling and makes them very attractive light sources for telecommunication. 1 In order to increase embedded fiber communication capacities, advanced VCSELs with a tunable emission have been investigated. 2 These devices are suitable for wavelength division multiplexing applications in metro and local access networks. Most of the tunable VCSELs developed by researchers are comprised of an active region and an air-gap sandwiched between top and bottom distributed Bragg reflectors (DBR). The top DBR is a part of a micro-electromechanical system (MEMS)
Switchable double wavelength generating vertical external cavity surface-emitting laser
Optics Express, 2014
Switchable, double wavelength generation is demonstrated from a single vertical external cavity surface-emitting laser chip. Power of ~0.5W for two wavelengths λ≈967nm and 1018nm i.e. within the spectral distance of 51nm were registered. In the semiconductor heterostructure a single set of nominally identical quantum wells was enclosed in a single, two-mode resonant microcavity. The wavelength switching was induced by the change of the pump power. The increase or decrease of the pump power changes the active region temperature and thus tunes spectrally the gain spectrum to the one of two modes.
Monolithically Peltier-cooled vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers
Applied Physics Letters, 1991
We report the first tunable monolithically integrated thermoelectric controlled GaAs/ AlGaAs vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser diode. The thermoelectric element is the n + -GaAs substrate based on the Peltier effect. A variation of active region temperature of f 7.5 "C has been achieved using f 100 mA of thermoelectric cooler current. The observed wavelength tuning associated with this temperature shift is *6 A. The device is useful for applications that require a high degree of frequency stability or small frequency tuning. Some examples of potential applications are in high data rate lightwave transmission, self-electro-optic device switches, and spectroscopy.
Recent progress of vertical-cavity surface emitting lasers: wavelength engineering and new functions
Active and Passive Optical Components for WDM Communications IV, 2004
Vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSELs) have been extensively developed and are now key devices in local area networks based on multi-mode optical fibers. Long wavelength VCSELs are currently attracting much interest for use in single-mode fiber metropolitan area and wide area networks. Also, parallel data links including board-to-board interconnections with low threshold VCSEL arrays are also under development. Low threshold single-mode VCSEL arrays will enable us to realize parallel optical interconnects with low power consumption. We have developed highly strained GaInAs/GaAs QW VCSELs emitting at 1.1-1.2 µm band. Excellent temperature characteristics have been realized. We present long wavelength GaInAs VCSELs on GaAs substrates, enabling uncooled operation for high speed data transmission in single-mode fibers. Also, we will discuss a possibility of isolator-free operations of single-mode VCSELs. In addition, we demonstrated a single-mode multiple-wavelength VCSEL array on a patterned GaAs substrate for the wavelength engineering of VCSELs. The maximum lasing span of arrays is over 190 nm. Densely integrated multi-wavelength arrays are presented. Tunable micromachined VCSELs are also attracting much interest for WDM networking, because micromachined tunable VCSELs enable wide continuous tuning. We proposed and demonstrated a micromachined tunable vertical cavity with a strain control layer, which gives us novel functions including temperature insensitive operation, thermal wavelength tuning, and so on. We also propose and demonstrate injection-locked VCSELs for all-optical signal processing. Some results on optical inverters, optical bistable devices and optical regenerators will be reported. Toward other applications including optical storages and sensing, we will describe metal nano-aperture VCSELs for near-field optics.
Applied Physics Letters, 2011
A tunable vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) is fabricated where tunability is achieved with an intracavity layer of nematic liquid crystal and gain is provided by a semiconductor quantum well structure. The anisotropic liquid crystal layer enables a continuously tunable single-mode emission along the extraordinary axis of the layer. Polarization control is achieved when the layer thickness is such that the ordinary modes are out of the spectral gain region. Laser emission in the 1.5 µm telecom wavelength range is demonstrated under optical pumping, with a tuning range of more than 30 nm for an applied voltage of less than 3 V.
IEEE Photonics Technology Letters, 1992
GaInAsP / inP vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser for the first time. The cavity length was directly changed by slightly moving an external The device was grown by chemical beam epitaxy (CBE) and the experiment was performed at low temperature. Our result indicates that a short cavity structure can stability of the SE laser under tuning. experimental demonstration of an external mirror to control the SE laser wavelength was reported [919 but the tuning was discrete. The external mirror is also useful for a coherent provide pure continuous wavelength tuning because of its wide two-dimensional SE laser array [lo], [Ill, if it is successlongitudinal mode spacing.
Optics in Atmospheric Propagation and Adaptive Systems XIII, 2010
We present 1.55 µm short-cavity buried-tunnel-junction VCSELs (Vertical-Cavity Surface-Emitting Lasers) with single mode output powers of 6.7 mW at 20°C and 3 mW at 80°C, respectively. Although the device had been predominantly optimized for high-power applications and a proper heat management, we are also observing a 3dB-cutoff frequency of more than 11 GHz and side mode suppression ratios (SMSRs) beyond 54 dB over the whole temperature range. The tuning range of the devices can be increased from 7 nm based on gain tuning to several tens of nanometers when replacing the top DBR by a micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) composed of semiconductor or dielectric material being thermally actuated for changing the cavity length. These devices are perfectly suitable for telecommunication and gas sensing applications and represent outstanding devices for the so called tunable diode laser absorption spectroscopy (TDLAS) technique.