Two-Wavelength Switching With a 1310-nm Quantum Dot Distributed Feedback Laser

Two-wavelength switching operation and bistability is reported for the first time with a 1310-nm quantum-dot (QD) distributed feedback (DFB) laser. We demonstrate experimentally the switching of the lasing mode of the QD laser under external optical injection into one of the residual Fabry-Perot (FP) modes of the device. Clockwise switching and bistability occurs for both the lasing and the injected subsidiary modes of the QD DFB laser as the injection strength is increased. Moreover, very high ON-OFF contrast ratio is measured for the switching transition of the lasing mode of the device. We have also analyzed experimentally the influence of two important system parameters, namely the initial wavelength detuning and the applied bias current. The variety of switching behaviors obtained with a 1310-nm QD DFB laser added to the theoretically superior properties of nanostructure lasers offers exciting prospects for novel uses of these devices in all-optical logic and all-optical switching/routing applications in present and future optical telecommunication networks.