Title :
Electrically gain-switched vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers
Author :
Hasnain, G. ; Wiesenfeld, J.M. ; Damen, T.C. ; Shah, J. ; Wynn, J.D. ; Wang, Y.H. ; Cho, A.Y.
Author_Institution :
AT&T Bell Lab., Murray Hill, NJ, USA
Abstract :
The authors report electrical gain-switching of a packaged vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL). Pulse durations as short as 24 ps at repetition rates up to 2 GHz were obtained from a four-quantum-well GaAs/AlGaAs VCSEL, which emits 0.8 mW continuous wave power in a single mode at room temperature and has a current threshold of 5 mA. Simultaneous measurement of the optical spectrum showed an almost transform limited linewidth indicating ultralow chirp. Optical pumping with subpicosecond pulses of the same packaged devices, held at a constant electrical bias, yielded 22 ps pulses, in good agreement with the electrical pumping. Simple calculations show that the pulse duration obtained by gain-switching is limited by the design constraints necessary to operate the VCSEL continuous wave at room temperature with low-threshold current, high-quantum efficiency, and reasonable output power.<>
Keywords :
III-V semiconductors; Q-switching; aluminium compounds; gallium arsenide; high-speed optical techniques; laser cavity resonators; packaging; semiconductor junction lasers; 0.8 mW; 22 ps; 24 ps; 5 mA; GaAs-AlGaAs; III-V semiconductor; MQW; VCSEL; almost transform limited linewidth; continuous wave power; current threshold; electrical gain-switching; four-quantum-well; high-quantum efficiency; low-threshold current; optical pumping; optical spectrum; output power; packaged vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser; pulse durations; repetition rates; room temperature; single mode; subpicosecond pulses; ultralow chirp; Gallium arsenide; Laser modes; Optical pulses; Optical pumping; Optical surface waves; Packaging; Stimulated emission; Surface emitting lasers; Temperature; Vertical cavity surface emitting lasers;
Journal_Title :
Photonics Technology Letters, IEEE
