Tunable sampled-grating DBR lasers with integrated wavelength monitors

Author

Mason, Beck ; DenBaars, Steven P. ; Coldren, Larry A.

Author_Institution

Dept. of Electr. & Comput. Eng., California Univ., Santa Barbara, CA, USA

Volume

10

Issue

8

fYear

1998

Firstpage

1085

Lastpage

1087

Abstract

We report on the design and development of a wavelength monitor for use with tunable semiconductor lasers. The device is based on two-mode interference in an asymmetrically excited waveguide that is coupled to a Y-branch splitter. The monitoring range of the device is 30 nm. The wavelength monitor is capable of operating over an input power range of 34 dB, and the waveguide detectors do not saturate at photocurrents as high as 1.2 mA. The sensitivity of the monitor is only 1.24 nm for an isolated device, but improves to 0.44 nm when it is integrated on chip with the laser.

Keywords

diffraction gratings; distributed Bragg reflector lasers; integrated optics; laser variables measurement; monitoring; photoconductivity; photodetectors; semiconductor lasers; sensitivity; waveguide lasers; 1.2 mA; Y-branch splitter; asymmetrically excited waveguide; input power range; integrated wavelength monitors; isolated device; laser chip integration; monitoring range; photocurrents; sensitivity; tunable sampled-grating DBR lasers; tunable semiconductor lasers; two-mode interference; waveguide detectors; wavelength monitor; Detectors; Distributed Bragg reflectors; Interference; Laser excitation; Monitoring; Optical design; Semiconductor lasers; Semiconductor waveguides; Tunable circuits and devices; Waveguide lasers;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Photonics Technology Letters, IEEE

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

1041-1135

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/68.701510

Filename

701510