Resonance-free frequency response of a semiconductor laser

Abstract

We show experimentally and analytically that fast spontaneous recombination lifetime, τB,spon, leads to resonance-free frequency response in semiconductor lasers, and as a consequence higher speed operation. Faster τB,spon is obtained by a reverse-bias collector field pinning and tilting a dynamic (removable) charge population in a thin base (τt∼ps), allowing only “fast” recombination. We show resonance-free optical response on a prototype transistor laser (TL) with τB,spon∼29 ps. Based on the TL, a resonance-free tilted-charge diode laser, is demonstrated with a 10.3 Gb/s “clean open-eye” signal achieved with a −3 dB bandwidth device of only 5.6 GHz.