Abstract
A record broadly tunable high-power external cavity InAs/GaAs quantum-dot diode laser with a tuning range of 202 nm (1122 nm-1324 nm) is demonstrated. A maximum output power of 480 mW and a side-mode suppression ratio greater than 45 dB are achieved in the central part of the tuning range. We exploit a number of strategies for enhancing the tuning range of external cavity quantum-dot lasers. Different waveguide designs, laser configurations and operation conditions (pump current and temperature) are investigated for optimization of output power and tunability.
Highlights
The development of high-power, broadly tunable, compact and low-cost external cavity diode lasers (ECDLs) is an important research area for a wide range of applications, such as spectroscopy [1], interferometry [2] and testing of telecommunication and wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) systems [3]
We present a high-power (0.48 W) InAs/GaAs QD-ECDL with a continuous tuning range of 202 nm – the highest tuning range with high output power achieved in a QDbased laser
We investigated the performance of the QD-ECDL with the gain chip for two configurations – with a 20% output coupler (OC) and without an OC
Summary
The development of high-power, broadly tunable, compact and low-cost external cavity diode lasers (ECDLs) is an important research area for a wide range of applications, such as spectroscopy [1], interferometry [2] and testing of telecommunication and wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) systems [3]. The inhomogeneous broadening associated with the strain and size dispersion of the QDs (inherent to the StranskiKrastanow growth techniques) results in a distribution of energies which, to some extent, parallels the distribution of QD sizes This feature, together with the manipulation of the chemistry and strain of the capping layers and barriers, can be flexibly engineered to widen the emission spectral bandwidth. By exploiting such broad gain bandwidths, QD external cavity diode lasers (QD-ECDLs) have demonstrated impressive tuning ranges up to 200 nm, for the spectral range between 1095 and 1245 nm [10] or between 1033 and 1234 nm [11]. A low-threshold tunable QD-ECDL in the spectral range 1141.6 – 1251.7 nm with a maximum output power of 53 mW has been reported [13]
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