N-Type Doping to an Active-Short Cavity DBR Laser to Expand Its Continuous Tuning Range

Author

Arimoto, Hideo ; Kitatani, Takeshi ; Tsuchiya, Tomonobu ; Shinoda, Kazunori ; Ohtoshi, Tsukuru ; Aoki, Masahiro ; Tsuji, Shinji

Author_Institution

Central Res. Lab., Hitachi, Ltd., Tokyo

Volume

20

Issue

16

fYear

2008

Firstpage

1348

Lastpage

1350

Abstract

We propose the use of a short-cavity distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) laser with a modified active DBR structure, which has an n-type-doped active single quantum well, and that achieves fast wavelength switching that is potentially applicable for optical packet switching networks. The laser exhibits 6.4-nm continuous tuning by moderating a steep gain change at a low DBR injection current. Furthermore, 32-nm continuous tuning has also been achieved for an integrated laser with an eight-channel array.

Keywords

III-V semiconductors; distributed Bragg reflector lasers; gallium arsenide; gallium compounds; indium compounds; integrated optics; laser cavity resonators; optical switches; optical tuning; packet switching; quantum well lasers; semiconductor doping; semiconductor laser arrays; wavelength division multiplexing; DBR injection current; InGaAsP; active-short cavity distributed Bragg reflector laser; continuous tuning; eight-channel array; fast wavelength switching; integrated laser; n-type doping; optical packet switching networks; single quantum well; Distributed Bragg reflectors; Doping; Laser modes; Laser transitions; Laser tuning; Optical arrays; Optical packet switching; Optical tuning; Quantum well lasers; Semiconductor laser arrays; Short-cavity distributed-Bragg-reflector (SC-DBR) laser; tunable laser;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Photonics Technology Letters, IEEE

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

1041-1135

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/LPT.2008.926864

Filename

4579304