Monolithic colliding-pulse mode-locked quantum-well lasers

Integration of the whole mode-locked laser onto a single piece of semiconductor offers a number of advantages, including total elimination of optical alignment processes, improved mechanical stability, and the generation of short optical pulses at much higher repetition frequencies. Semiconductor laser processing technologies were used to implement the colliding-pulse mode-locking (CPM) scheme, which is known to effectively shorten the pulses and increase stability, on a miniature monolithic semiconductor cavity. The principles of and recent progress in monolithic CPM quantum-well lasers are reviewed