Narrow Beam Divergence Angle Research Articles

High-speed high-power free-space optical communication via directly modulated watt-class photonic-crystal surface-emitting lasers

Photonic crystal surface-emitting lasers (PCSELs), which use a two-dimensional photonic crystal as the laser cavity, can achieve both high output powers and narrow beam divergence angles owing to single-mode lasing over a large area. High-speed, high-power, direct modulation of PCSELs is expected to realize compact and power-saving optical transmitters without bulky lens systems and fiber amplifiers for free-space optical communications. In this paper, we realize high-speed, high-power, free-space optical communication via directly modulated watt-class photonic-crystal surface-emitting lasers. We first numerically investigate the intrinsic (optical) and parasitic (electrical) frequency response characteristics of watt-class PCSELs with large lasing areas, and we show that several-GHz-class direct modulation is feasible even in watt-class PCSELs. Then, we fabricate a 500-µm-diameter PCSEL and simultaneously realize watt-class continuous-wave operation and several-GHz-class direct modulation. Finally, by directly modulating the developed PCSEL with a quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) signal, we demonstrate free-space optical communication with over 10 Gbit/s high-speed transmission and virtual 5-km-class long-distance transmission even without using a transmitter lens.

Attitude Determination of Photovoltaic Device by Means of Differential Absorption Imaging

Future wireless power transmission will cover power levels up to kilowatts or more and transmission distances up to the scale of kilometers. With its narrow beam divergence angle, optical wireless power transmission (OWPT) is a promising candidate for such system implementations. In the operation of OWPT, it is necessary to estimate the position, direction (azimuth, elevation), and attitude of the target photovoltaic device before the power supply. The authors have proposed the detection of targets using differential absorption imaging and positioning with a combination of stereo imagery. In the positioning by stereo imagery, a condition regarding the consistency of the left and right images can be defined. This corresponds to the certain value of the exposure time of the image sensor, and this depends on the target’s attitude angle. In this paper, we discuss target attitude estimation using this minimum exposure time at which the integrity measure converges. A physical model was derived under general conditions of target position and experimental configuration. Target attitudes were estimated within an error range of 10 to 15 degrees in approximately 60 degrees range. On the other hand, there is an attitude estimation method based on the apparent size of the target. When using this method to estimate the attitude angle, errors are significantly large for specular and diffuse mixed targets like the PV. The method proposed in this paper is a robust attitude estimation method for the photovoltaic device in OWPT.

Proposal and Demonstration of Free-Space Optical Communication Using Photonic Crystal Surface-Emitting Lasers

We propose and demonstrate free-space optical (FSO) communication using photonic crystal surface-emitting lasers (PCSELs). Unlike other types of conventional semiconductor lasers, such as edge-emitting lasers (EELs) and vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs), PCSELs achieve much larger area single-mode coherent lasing, and this unique feature enables high-power (>watt) and lens-free operations at the same time. To date, these advantages have been recognized to be game changing, especially in light detection and ranging (LiDAR) and laser processing applications. In this work, we show that FSO communication can also benefit from these advantages of PCSELs; more specifically, conventional transmitters that include low-power semiconductor lasers, optical lenses, and fiber-based amplifiers could be replaced with a single PCSEL. Since fiber amplifiers usually consist of bulky components and have low conversion efficiencies, PCSELs can offer more space- and power-saving solutions. Moreover, the narrow beam divergence angles directly obtained from large-area single-mode PCSELs can also eliminate the need for lens systems on the transmitter side. To experimentally verify these potential advantages, we performed FSO transmission experiments based on PCSELs and successfully transmitted 480-MHz and 864-MHz orthogonal frequency division multiplexed (OFDM) signals over 1.1 m using a 500-μm PCSEL in a lens-free transmitter configuration. We believe that PCSELs open new possibilities and choices in FSO communication.

Narrow vertical beam divergence angle for display applications of 645 nm lasers

We design a 645 nm laser diode (LD) with a narrow vertical beam divergence angle based on the mode expansion layer. The vertical beam divergence of 10.94° at full width at half-maximum is realized under 1.5 A continuous-wave operation, which is the smallest vertical beam divergence for such an LD based on the mode expansion layer, to the best of our knowledge. The threshold current and output power are 1.07 A and 0.94 W, limited by the thermal rollover for the 100 µm wide and 1500 µm long broad area laser, and the slope efficiency is 0.71 W/A. The low coherence device is fabricated with the speckle contrast of 3.6% and good directional emission. Such 645 nm LDs have promising applications in laser display.

Lasers that shine brighter.

A photonic crystal design, consisting of two separated lattices arranged in a specific way, forms the base of high-brightness semiconductor lasers, with a very narrow beam divergence angle.

Proposal and Simulation of Microring Resonators With Partially Distributed Gratings for Realizing Unidirectional Emission

Microring resonators with partially distributed gratings along the inner wall are proposed and numerically investigated based on the finite-element method for realizing the in-plane unidirectional emission with a narrow beam divergence angle. The partially distributed gratings break the rotation symmetry of the resonators, and thus the double-degenerate whispering gallery modes (WGMs) split into two nondegenerate modes with different $Q$ factors. Through proper arrangements of the period and number of the inner-wall gratings, the high- $Q$ mode light can be scattered to lower angular momentum components and result in highly unidirectional emission. The far-field divergence angle is mainly determined by the number of the gratings and the azimuthal mode number of the WGM. Furthermore, the far-field patterns and the mode $Q$ factors are optimized by regulating the grating depth and the microring width. With fixed grating numbers, the in-plane beam divergence substantially is not sensitive to the variation of grating depth and microring width, which illustrates the robustness of the unidirectional emission.

Multi-active region laser diode with a narrow beam divergence angle

A novel large optical cavity laser diode, which consists of multi-active regions cascaded together through tunnel junctions, is proposed. After growing the epi-layers with LP-MOCVD system on GaAs substrate, the ridge waveguide laser structure is fabricated, and it shows a transverse divergence angle as low as 14.4°.

High-power 660-nm GaInP-AlGaInP laser diodes with low vertical beam divergence angles

We present 660-nm GaInP-AlGaInP ridge multiple-quantum-well laser diodes (LDs) reliably operating at high output power over 200 mW at 70/spl deg/C not showing unstable higher order lateral modes owing to an adoption of a dry etching method instead of a conventional chemical wet etching for realizing steep ridge sidewalls. Employing an optimized two-step n-cladding layer LDs produced very narrow horizontal and vertical beam divergence angles of 8.6/spl deg/ and 15.3/spl deg/, respectively. To the best of our knowledge, this vertical beam divergence angle is the lowest value ever reported in high-power 660-nm LDs operating over 200 mW and is expected to play an important role in minimizing the coupling loss between LD and passive optical components in digital versatile disc system.

Analysis of Optical Coherence Multiplexing Networks for Satellite Communication

Free-space optical communication between satellites networked together can enable a high data rate between the satellites. Coherence multiplexing (CM) is an attractive technique for satellite networking due to its ability to cope with the asynchronous nature of communication traffic and the dynamic changes taking place in the satellite constellation. The use of optical radiation for intersatellite links creates very narrow beam divergence angles. Due to the narrow beam divergence angle, the vibration of the pointing system, the movement of the satellite, and the large distance between them the pointing from one satellite to another is a complicated task. The vibration of the pointing system is caused by two stochastic fundamental mechanisms: 1) tracking noises created by the electrooptic tracker and 2) vibrations created by internal satellite mechanical mechanisms and external environments. We derive mathematical models of signal, noise, the approximate signal-to-noise ratio, and the approximate bit-error rates of optical communication satellite networks as functions of the system's parameters, the number of satellites, and the vibration amplitude for frequency-shift keying coherence multiplexing (FSK-CM). Based on these models, we can calculate the negative impact of both the number of satellites and the optical terminal vibration on the system's performance.

Performance limitation of laser satellite communication due to vibrations and atmospheric turbulence: down‐link scenario

AbstractIn this paper, we analyse the effects of vibrations and the atmosphere on the performance of a broadband laser inter‐satellite link (BLISL) which was studied within the framework of the BLISL joint Israeli–German applied research project. The use of optical radiation as a carrier between satellites and in satellite‐to‐ground links enables transmission using very narrow beam divergence angles. Due to the narrow beam divergence angle and the large distance between the satellite and the ground station or airplane the pointing is a complicated process. Further complication results from vibration of the pointing system caused by two fundamental mechanisms of a stochastic nature: (1) tracking noise created by the electro‐optic tracker and (2) vibrations caused by internal satellite mechanical mechanisms. Additionally an inhomogeneity in the temperature and pressure of the atmosphere leads to variations of the refractive index along the transmission path. These variations of refractive index as well as pointing vibrations can cause fluctuations in the intensity and the phase of the received signal leading to an increase in link error probability. In this paper, we develop a bit error probability (BEP) model that takes into account both pointing vibrations and turbulence‐induced log amplitude fluctuations (i.e. signal intensity fading) in a regime in which the receiver aperture D0 is smaller than the turbulence coherence diameter d0. Our results indicate that BLISL can achieve a BEP of 10−9 and data rate of 1Gbps with normalized pointing vibration of GT*σθ2=0.05 and turbulence of σX=0.3. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Optimization of urban optical wireless communication systems

Urban optical wireless communication systems are considered a "last mile" technology. An optical wireless communication system uses the atmosphere as a propagation medium. In order to provide line-of-sight (LOS), the transceivers are placed on high-rise buildings. However, dynamic wind loads, thermal expansion, and weak earthquakes cause buildings to sway. These sways require the designer to increase the transmitter beam divergence angle so as to maintain LOS between the transmitter and the receiver. It is clear that an overly wide divergence angle increases the required laser power, and, as a result, terminal cost and complexity increase. On the other hand, an overly narrow beam divergence angle may result in cutoff in communication when there is building sway. In this paper, we derive a mathematical model to minimize transmitter power and optimize transmitter gain (divergence angle) as a function of the building-sway statistics, the communication system parameters, and the required bit-error probability (BEP). Reduction in laser power could improve overall system performances and cost. For example, for BEP of 10/sup -9/, we can attain at least a 4-dB reduction of the required transmitter power in comparison to a system with both half and twice the optimum beam divergence angle.

100-mW kink-free blue-violet laser diodes with low aspect ratio

400-nm-band GaN-based laser diodes (LDs) operating with a kink-free output power of over 100 mW and having a low aspect ratio of 2.3 have been successfully fabricated for the first time. A new ridge structure, in which the outside of the ridge is covered with a stacked layer of Si on SiO <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sub> and the ridge width is as narrow as 1.5 μm, is applied to realize high kink-free output power with a wide beam divergence angle parallel to the junction plane. A new layer structure around the active layer is demonstrated to be quite effective for obtaining a narrow beam divergence angle perpendicular to the junction plane, maintaining low threshold current. Ten LDs with low aspect ratio have been operated stably for over 1000 h under 30-mW continuous-wave operation at 60°C. Relative intensity noise measured under optical feedback with high-frequency modulation is as low as -125 dB/Hz. These results indicate that this LD is suitable for next-generation high-density optical storage systems.

Laser satellite communication network-vibration effect and possible solutions

A number of serious consortiums develop satellite communication networks. The objective of these communication projects is to service personal communication users almost everywhere on Earth. The intersatellite links in those projects use microwave radiation as the carrier. Free-space optical communication between satellites networked together can make possible high-speed communication between different places on Earth. Some advantages of an optical communication system over a microwave communication system in free space are: (1) smaller size and weight, (2) less transmitter power, (3) larger bandwidth, and (4) higher immunity to interference. The pointing from one satellite to another is a complicated problem due to the large distance between the satellite, the narrow beam divergence angle, and vibration of the pointing system. Such vibration of the transmitted beam in the receiver plane decreases the average received signal, which increases the bit error rate. We review: (1) the present status of satellite networks, (2) developing efforts of optical satellite communication around the world, (3) performance results of vibration effects on different kinds of optical communication satellite networks, and (4) seven approaches to overcome the problems caused by transmitter pointing vibration.

Performance limitations of free-space optical communication satellite networks due to vibrations—analog case

Free-space optical communication between satellites networked together can make possible high-speed communication between different places on earth. The use of optical radiation as a carrier between the satellites creates very narrow beam divergence angles. Due to the narrow-beam divergence angle and the large distance between the satellites, the pointing from one satellite to another is complicated. The complication is due to vibration of the pointing system caused by two stochastic fundamental mechanisms: (1) tracking noise created by the electro-optic tracker and (2) vibrations created by internal satellite mechanical mechanisms. We derive mathematical models of signal, noise, approximate SNR, and approximate bit error rates of optical communication satellite networks as functions of the system parameters, the number of satellites, and the vibration amplitude. The optical intersatellite network model considered includes transmitter satellite, repeater satellites, and receiver satellite all networked together. These models are the basis for pointing system design of appropriate complexity and performance to make the network as simple and inexpensive as possible. An example of practical communication between Anchorage in Alaska to Johannesburg in South Africa by a free-space optical communication network composed of nine low-earth-orbit satellites is given. From the analysis it is clear that even low vibration amplitude of the satellite pointing systems decreases dramatically the network performance.

Surface-emitting multiple quantum well distributed feedback laser with a broad-area grating coupler

A surface-emitting laser diode with a 100 × 200 μm2 grating coupler was fabricated. Narrow beam divergence angles of 2° × 0.32° and a maximum output power of 210mW were obtained.

Cw surface-emitting grating-coupled GaAs/AlGaAs distributed feedback laser with very narrow beam divergence

Room-temperature cw operation of a GaAs/AlGaAs surface-emitting grating-coupled distributed feedback laser is reported. By using a transverse junction stripe scheme which provides a window structure for the surface-emitted light, cw surface emission having a very narrow beam divergence angle of 0.13° and an output power of more than 3 mW was observed.