High power broadband singlelobe /spl lambda/=1.55 /spl mu/m superluminescent diode

Summary form only given. Superluminescent diodes (SLD) are the optimum light sources for optical low coherence reflectometry and fiber gyroscopes due to their short coherence length, low intrinsic noise and broad emission spectra. In this connection broadband /spl lambda/=1.55 /spl mu/m SLD with high output optical power and effective coupling with singlemode optical fiber is of great interest. We report on the investigation and fabrication of optimum SLD construction for the achievement of maximum CW output power of singlelobe broadband superluminescent emission. SLD was based on the mesastripe laser diode construction with 4 /spl mu/m stripe width providing tough fundamental transverse mode confinement and 50% coupling efficiency in singlemode optical fiber. To achieve superluminescent emission mesastripe laser diode construction was modified with the aim of lasing suppression. MOCVD grown separate confinement multiquantum well InGaAsP/InGaAs/InP heterostructure was optimized for SLD fabrication. The use of ten strained quantum wells and broadened waveguide allowed to minimize internal optical losses keeping up high gain in the active region.