Wavelength switchable semiconductor laser using half-wave V-coupled cavities.
A new semiconductor laser structure with digitally switchable wavelength is proposed. The device comprises two coupled cavities with different optical path lengths, which form V-shaped branches with a reflective 2x2 half-wave optical coupler at the closed end. The reflective 2x2 coupler is designed to have a pi-phase difference between cross-coupling and self-coupling so as to produce synchronous power transfer functions. High single-mode selectivity is achieved by optimizing the coupling coefficient. The switchable wavelength range is greatly increased by using Vernier effect. Using deep-etched trenches as partial reflectors, additional waveguide branch structures are used outside the laser cavities to form a complete Mach-Zehnder interferometer, allowing space switching, variable attenuation, or high speed modulation to be realized simultaneously. Detailed design principle and numerical results are presented.
Centre for Integrated Optoelectronics, State Key Laboratory of Modern Optical Instrumentation, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, PR China 310027. jjhe@zju.edu.cn
Jian-Jun
JJ
He
Dekun
D
Liu
D003198:Computer Simulation; D017076:Computer-Aided Design; D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D007834:Lasers; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D012666:Semiconductors