A 1550-nm linearly tunable continuous wave single-mode external cavity diode laser based on a single-cavity all-dielectric thin-film Fabry—Pérot filter

Abstract

A 1550-nm linearly tunable continuous wave (CW) single-mode external cavity diode laser (ECDL) based on a single-cavity all-dielectric thin-film Fabry—Pérot filter (s-AFPF) is proposed and realized in this paper. Its internal optical components as well as their operation mechanisms are introduced first, and then its longitudinal mode output characteristic is theoretically analyzed. Afterwards, we set up the experimental platform for the output characteristic measurement of this tunable ECDL; under different experimental conditions, we execute accurate and real-time measurements for the output central wavelength, output optical power, output longitudinal mode distribution, and the line-width of the tunable ECDL in its tuning process. By summing up the optimal experimental condition from the measured data, we obtain the optimal tunable ECDL relevant parameters: the tunable ECDL has a linear mode-hop-free wavelength tuning region of 1547.203 nm–1552.426 nm, a stable output optical power in the range of 40 μW–50 μW, and a stable output longitudinal mode distribution of a single longitudinal mode with a line-width in the range of 100 MHz–150 MHz. This tunable ECDL can be used in environmental gas monitoring, atomic and molecular laser spectroscopy research, precise measurements, and so on.