Vertical-cavity saturable-absorber intensity modulator.
We propose and demonstrate a reflection-type optical modulator, with surface-normal architecture, that exploits the optical saturation of absorption in semiconductor quantum wells. The modulation section of the modulator, which is composed of quantum wells placed within a Fabry-Perot cavity, is optically controlled by an intensity-modulated beam generated by an in-plane laser integrated monolithically on the same wafer and grown in a single epitaxial step. The modulation section and the in-plane laser share the same medium; therefore, efficient coupling between the control beam and the signal beam is achieved. The device was successfully used for active mode locking of an erbium-doped fiber laser.
Guina
M
M
Optoelectronics Research Centre, Tampere University of Technology. P.O. Box 692, FIN-33101, Tampere, Finland. mircrea.guina@orc.tut.fi
Vainionpää
A
A
Harkonen
A
A
Orsila
L
L
Lyytikäinen
J
J
Okhotnikov
O G
OG