Broad wavelength coverage 23 μm III-V-on-silicon DFB laser array

Ruijun Wang,Roel Baets,Gunther Roelkens,Stephan Sprengel,Gerhard Boehm,Markus-Christian Amann

doi:10.1364/optica.4.000972

Abstract

Silicon photonics is a promising integrated-optics platform for optical communication and sensing applications. Integrating 2–3 μm wavelength widely tunable lasers on silicon photonic integrated circuits enables fully integrated spectroscopic sensors with different potential applications such as multi-species trace gas spectroscopy and bio-molecule detection. Here, we demonstrate a continuous-wave (CW) operated III–V-on-silicon distributed feedback (DFB) laser array covered a broad wavelength range from 2.28 to 2.43 μm. CW operation up to 25°C and an on-chip output power of 2.7 mW in a single mode at 5°C is achieved for lasers operating at 2.35 μm wavelength. Four-channel DFB laser arrays with a continuous tuning range of 10 nm and side mode suppression ratio of 40 dB over the whole range are also presented. This work is a major advance toward chip-scale silicon photonics spectroscopic sensing systems.

Highlights

Gas sensing based on short-wave infrared and mid-infrared absorption spectroscopy has been proven to be a reliable technology for trace-gas measurements with fast response time and a high degree of specificity to the target gas [1,2]
We demonstrated 2.3x μm heterogeneous III–Von-silicon distributed feedback (DFB) laser sources based on an InP-based Type II heterostructure [16]
In this paper we report, to the best our knowledge, the first broad wavelength coverage DFB laser array in the 2 μm wavelength range, which is realized on a heterogeneous III–V-on-silicon platform and uses a W-shaped InGaAs/ GaAsSb Type II active region

Summary

Introduction

Gas sensing based on short-wave infrared and mid-infrared absorption spectroscopy has been proven to be a reliable technology for trace-gas measurements with fast response time and a high degree of specificity to the target gas [1,2]. In this paper we report, to the best our knowledge, the first broad wavelength coverage DFB laser array in the 2 μm wavelength range, which is realized on a heterogeneous III–V-on-silicon platform and uses a W-shaped InGaAs/ GaAsSb Type II active region.

Results

Conclusion