Narrow line high power picosecond pulse generation in a multicontact distributed feedback laser using modified Q switching

High power bandwidth-limited picosecond pulses with peak powers in excess of 200 mW have been generated using 1.5 mu m multicontact distributed feedback laser diodes for the first time. The pulses have widths typically less than 10 ps, time-bandwidth products of as little as 0.24, and can be generated on demand at generator limited repetition rates of up to 140 MHz.