Monolithically integrated external-cavity tunable laser

We propose a novel external-cavity tunable laser realized by monolithically integrating a semiconductor optical amplifier, a phase-control section, a dispersive element, and an etched diffraction grating in InP. The tuning operation is based on electrically controlled deflection of the propagating beam through the dispersive element while the grating offers to select a specific wavelength. With the electrical control, the continuous wavelength tuning of 11 nm with a side mode suppression ratio of more than 35 dB has been successfully achieved.