High-speed wavelength-swept semiconductor laser with a polygon-scanner-based wavelength filter.
Ultrahigh-speed tuning of an extended-cavity semiconductor laser is demonstrated. The laser resonator comprises a unidirectional fiber-optic ring, a semiconductor optical amplifier as the gain medium, and a novel scanning filter based on a polygonal scanner. Variable tuning rates up to 1150 nm/ms (15.7-kHz repetition frequency) are demonstrated over a 70-nm wavelength span centered at 1.32 microm. This tuning rate is more than an order of magnitude faster than previously demonstrated and is facilitated in part by self-frequency shifting in the semiconductor optical amplifier. The instantaneous linewidth of the source is <0.1 nm for 9-mW cw output power and a low spontaneous-emission background of -80 dB.
Yun
S H
SH
Harvard Medical School and Wellman Laboratories for Photomedicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, 50 Blossom Street, BAR 718, Boston, Massachusetts 02114, USA. syun@bics.bwh.harvard.edu
Boudoux
C
C
Tearney
G J
GJ
Bouma
B E
BE
D004867:Equipment Design; D005336:Fiber Optic Technology; D005374:Filtration / Q000295:instrumentation; D007834:Lasers; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D055100:Optical Fibers; D055095:Optics and Photonics; D012666:Semiconductors