Investigation of a UV-laser generated waveguide in a planar polymer chip using an improved interferometric method

Polymeric integrated-optical waveguides are prepared in a planar polymer chip by UV-laser lithographic methods. The waveguide samples are irradiated by an excimer laser at a wavelength Λ=248 nm with various irradiation parameters (different fluencies and irradiation doses). Mach-Zehnder interferometer is employed and the refractive index depth profiles of the waveguide samples are obtained. This profile covers two regions having exponential and Gaussian shapes. The model field distributions strongly depend on the refractive index of each region. The mode field distribution and the effective mode indices for each region have been calculated on the basis of a theoretical model and the experimentally measured data.     

Numerical study on lateral mode behavior of 660-nm InGaP/AlGaInP multiple-quantum-well laser diodes

Theoretical analysis for InGaP/AlGaInP laser diodes with different ridge waveguide structures is performed to investigate the lateral mode behavior using advanced device simulation. The internal physical mechanisms including temperature-induced changes in the refractive index profile, spatial hole burning effect, lateral carrier distribution, and gain profile variation with increasing input current are discussed by theoretical calculation to analyze the effects of different ridge structures on the lateral mode behavior of 660-nm AlGaInP laser diodes. The simulation results show that the use of narrow and shallow ridge geometry is the approach to obtaining single mode operation. Furthermore, it is found that the different values of the ridge height cause the lateral carrier distribution within the active region to be varied, which is also an important factor in determining the emergence of the first order lateral mode in addition to the geometry-dependent waveguide cutoff condition.     

A simple reflection-type two-dimensional refractive index profile measurement technique for optical waveguides

We report a new configuration of a reflection-type confocal scanning optical microscope system for measuring the refractive index profile of an optical waveguide. Several improvements on the earlier design are proposed; a light emitting diode at 650 nm wavelength instead of a laser diode or He-Ne laser is used as a light source for better index precision, and a simple longitudinal linear scanning and a curve fitting techniques are adapted instead of a servo control for maintaining an optical confocal arrangement. We have obtained spatial resolution of 800 nm and an index precision of 2 × 10⁻⁴. To verify the system’s capability, the refractive index profiles of a conventional multimode fiber and a home-made four-mode fiber were examined with our proposed measurement method.     

低阈值单横模852nm半导体激光器

基于波导理论、等效折射率方法,设计并制备了非对称波导隔离双沟结构脊型边发射激光器,最终获得了低闽值单基侧模852 nm激光器.详细研究了不同脊型台深宽比参数设计对激光器侧向模式特性的影响规律,实现了腔面未镀膜情况下脊型波导边发射激光器的单基侧模稳定输出,同时激射波长可以精确调谐到852 nm;工作电流达到150 mA,工作温度30℃;斜率效率最高可达0.89 nW/mA,光谱半宽小于1 nm.研究结果为进一步实现超窄线宽激光器提供了参考和借鉴,并且为实现激光器稳定输出提供了实验基础.     

980nm半导体激光器n型波导结构优化

为了提高980nm半导体激光器的输出功率并获得较小的远场发散角,在非对称波导结构的基础上设计了n型波导结构,即在n型波导中引入高折射率的内波导层。采用理论计算和SimLastip软件模拟对常规非对称波导结构和内波导结构进行了研究。利用分子束外延系统生长980nm内波导结构的外延材料,并制作了激光器。对于条宽为100μm、腔长为1000μm的器件,阈值电流为97mA,斜率效率为1.01W/A;当注入电流为500mA时,远场发散角为29°(垂直向)×8°(水平向),与模拟结果相符。理论计算和实验结果表明:较之于常规非对称波导结构,内波导结构可有效降低光场限制因子,提高输出功率,减小远场发散角。     

锥形太赫兹量子级联激光器输出功率与光束特性研究

针对锥形太赫兹量子级联激光器, 利用有限差分波束传播法和速率方程法, 建立了准三维的太赫兹有源器件仿真模型, 能够对具有轴向非线性波导结构的激光器进行模拟. 利用此模型, 研究了锥角大小对激光器输出光功率及光束质量的影响. 仿真结果表明, 考虑到器件之间的光耦合效率, 为了达到最大的有效输出光功率, 锥形太赫兹量子级联激光器的锥角存在一个最优值.     

Dispersion characteristics of complex refractive-index planar slab optical waveguide by using finite element method

In this paper, finite element method (FEM) mode analyses of planar slab optical waveguide having complicated refractive index profile are presented. We try to estimate the dispersion graph, mode cut-off condition, group delay and waveguide dispersion for the case of α-power and chirped-type refractive index profile. In order to obtain the more accurate result, we have derived the higher-order polynomial, which establishes the suitable relationship between b and V for different profile of optical waveguide. On the basis of the derived polynomials, the waveguide dispersion is analyzed for different type of refractive index profile waveguide. Our study shows that the waveguide dispersion can be substantially reduced when we deployed the optical waveguide having linearly chirped-type refractive index profile. Earlier too, the arbitrary refractive index profile has been analyzed but to the best of our knowledge chirped-type refractive index profile has not been analyzed till date for the case of planar slab optical waveguide.     

Laser-assisted fabrication of new slab-coupled lithium niobate optical waveguide

Recently a new type of lithium niobate waveguide was suggested for potential nonlinear optic applications. The waveguide consists of a uniform large core and a leaky coupled slab for realizing a lateral optical confinement to support the fundamental spatial mode propagation. Inside the waveguide, the slab layer is required to have a refractive index slightly lower than that of the core, but higher than that of the substrate. Lithium niobate doped with magnesium oxides shows an increased refractive index that is dependent on the dopant's concentration. Therefore, in order to fabricate such waveguides, the pulsed laser deposition approach was used to study the growth of such composition-modified lithium niobate as the slab layer. The as-grown films were characterized on its expitaxy, structure, and optical performance, via X-ray diffraction analysis, optical guiding experiment, etc.     

An azobenzene functionalized polymer for laser direct writing waveguide fabrication

We report on non-lithographic laser direct writing fabrication of optical waveguides by using a 4′-hydroxy-4-nitroazobene dye-functionalized polymer film. The polymer film reveals permanent change of refractive index at high laser illumination intensity. A focused continuous wave low power green laser beam at 532 nm wavelength is used to directly write waveguide structures on the polymer film. The magnitude of refractive index increase at film surface is about 0.006. One-step laser writing results in graded index waveguides in film depth direction under ambient conditions without pre- and post-processing. As a by-product, the laser writing also results in a very small air valley at the boundary between the laser written and non-written regions which may contribute in part although minimal to the waveguide lateral confinement and can be used for visual observation of waveguide patterns. The fabricated waveguide is found to be stable and easily reproducible.     

Amplitude-modulation-free optoelectronic frequency control of laser diodes

A novel method is described for fast frequency modulation or frequency control of diode lasers that avoids problems associated with bias current modulation, namely, amplitude modulation and thermal phase delays. The method is based on amplitude-modulated, noninterfering control light with a wavelength near the transparency region of the laser diode, which specifically modifies the spectral gain profile to yield a constant gain but a controllable refractive index at the lasing wavelength. This permits amplitude-modulation-free frequency modulation at modulation frequencies up to the relaxation oscillation frequency. A phase lock between the emissions of two extended-cavity diode lasers that could not be achieved with bias current modulation was achieved by this method.     

Loss analysis and increasing of the fabrication tolerance of resonant coupling by tapering the mode beating section

The film mode matching method was used to analyze the inter waveguide coupling losses in a passive asymmetric twin waveguide caused by waveguide width and refractive index variation for both resonant and adiabatic coupling at a wavelength of 1,550 nm. The reasons for power losses are shown. It is demonstrated that tapering the mode beating section of the resonant coupler can increase the fabrication tolerance of resonant coupling without increasing the coupling length.     

Study of mode propagation with 632.8-nm laser in tapered fiber

The material dispersion of a tapered fiber is described by Sellmeier＇s equation. The dependence of refractive index on wavelength and doping concentration is discussed. A He-Ne laser with the output wavelength of 632.8 nm is used in the experiment. When the cutoff frequency of the fiber is less than the laser frequency, the guiding modes of a singl~-mode fiber （at 1550 am） are investigated. The results show that the original single-mode fiber becomes a multi-mode waveguide. The propagation and mode coupling of the light in the taper region are analyzed. By controlling the taper end size of the fiber, the unique tapered fiber can convert a multi-mode beam into a single-mode one.     

非对称波导结构提高980nm激光二极管电光效率的机理研究

采用高电流注入条件下的载流子扩散方程和复折射率波导模型情况下的亥姆霍兹方程,对980nm高功率激光二极管外延材料的非对称和对称波导结构的光吸收损耗进行了理论计算。采用低压金属有机化学气相外延技术制备了两种波导结构的外延材料,并制作了激光器件,进行了光电特性测试和对比分析。理论计算和实验结果表明:与对称波导结构相比,非对称波导结构外延材料并未减小光吸收损耗,而是减小了串联电阻,因而降低了器件的焦耳热损耗,从而提高器件的电光效率。     

Temperature dependent characteristics of InAs/GaAs quantum dot laser grown by gas source molecular beam epitaxy

We report on the temperature dependent lasing characteristics of InAs/GaAs quantum dot lasers under continuous wave mode. The five-stacked InAs quantum dots were grown by gas-source molecular beam epitaxy with slightly different thickness. Ridge waveguide laser with stripe width of 6 μm was processed on the growth structure. The characteristic temperature was measured as high as infinity in the temperature range of 80–180 k. With the increase of injection current, the lasing spectra of laser diode broaden gradually at low temperature of 80 k. However, when the operation temperature increases from 80 to 300 K, the width of lasing spectrum reduces gradually from 40 to 2.0 nm. The lasing process is obviously different from that of a reference quantum well laser which widens its width of lasing spectra by increasing operation temperature. These experiments demonstrate that a carrier transfer from the smaller size of dots into larger dots caused by thermal effect play an important role in the lasing characteristic of quantum dot lasers. In addition, the laser can operate at maximum temperature of 80 °C under continuous wave mode with a maximum output power of 52 mW from one facet at 20 °C. A wavelength thermal coefficient of 0.196 nm/K is obtained, which is 2.8 times lower than that of QW laser. The low wavelength thermal coefficient of quantum dot laser is mainly attributed to its broad gain profile and state filling effects.     

带有多孔二氧化硅间隔层的导模共振光栅实现染料激光器发射增强

导模共振光栅是一种典型的平面波导共振结构,可在光栅表面或波导层内形成较强的局域电场,能增强光与物质的相互作用.本文在导模共振结构的光栅层和基底层之间,引入低折射率的多孔二氧化硅间隔层,显著增强了局域电场与增益介质的接触度.结果表明,引入多孔二氧化硅后,共振产生的电场增强区域上移至激光染料层,增加了激光染料与电场的相互作用,实现了激光出射增强.本文基于时域有限差分法,对结构参数进行分析优化,研究了820 nm共振波长激发下的出射激光特性,得到了连续的激光出射,其能量阈值约为2.5 mJ/cm^2,线宽约为0.3 nm.本文提出的结构实现了对表面局域电场的有效调控,增强了激发光与增益介质的相互作用,不但可应用于激光器,还为其它发光器件的设计提供了参考.     

(Al,In)GaN laser diodes in spectral, spatial, and time domain: near-field measurements and basic simulations

The near-field lateral intensity distribution of 405 nm (Al,In)GaN laser diodes is measured in time and wavelength domain. Spectral properties, relaxation oscillations, and filaments are observed. A thermally induced change of the refractive index profile is found to be the driving force behind changes in the dynamic mode configuration. With rate equations those effects can be described in first approximation.     

迭代法重建平板光波导折射率分布

提出了一种用于重建渐变折射率平板光波导折射率分布的方法,这种方法通过数值法求解亥姆霍兹方程．从光波导的低阶模开始采用迭代法顺次对各个模式对应的“转折点”位置进行校正．并多次重复迭代以消除“转折点”外折射率分布的变化对相应模式“转折点”位置的影响。借助WKB近似原理说明了这种方法迭代过程中“转折点”坐标的收敛性。对折射率按照指数规律变化的平板光波导的折射率分布重建结果证明这种方法具有较高的精度。分析表明：这种方法克服了WKB法固有的缺陷,即忽略模式“转折点”外折射率分布对相应模式传输常鞋的影响和“转折点”处相移的不确定性,因而比逆WKB法具有更好的自洽性和精确性。     

Mode field distribution of an integrated-optical waveguide generated by UV-laser radiation at the surface of a planar polymer chip

An integrated-optical strip-waveguide is directly written into the surface of a planar polymer substrate by an excimer laser beam. The mode field distribution, the surface refractive index and the refractive index depth profile of the waveguide have been examined. The intensity distribution of the mode field strongly depends on the refractive index depth profile, on the light coupling conditions and on the waveguide fabrication process parameters.     

All-optical tunability of InGaAsP/InP microdisk resonator by infrared light irradiation

We report the optical characterization of an InP structure constituted by waveguides coupled to microcavity disk resonators. The lateral waveguide confinement is obtained by deep reactive ion etching through the guiding layer. We demonstrate the possibility of tuning optically the resonance wavelength into the illuminating disk resonator. We obtained a blueshift of 3 nm by laser irradiation at 980 nm corresponding to a photoinduced change in the effective refractive index of 6 x 10(-3). The InP structure behaves as a tunable optical demultiplexer.     

Planar waveguides in neodymium-doped calcium niobium gallium garnet crystals produced by proton implantation

In this work, the fabrication and optical properties of a planar waveguide in a neodymium-doped calcium niobium gallium garnet(Nd:CNGG) crystal are reported. The waveguide is produced by proton(H~+) implantation at 480 ke V and a fluence of 1.0×10~(17) ions/cm~2. The prism-coupling measurement is performed to obtain the dark mode of the waveguide at a wavelength of 632.8nm. The reflectivity calculation method(RCM) is used to reconstruct the refractive index profile. The finite-difference beam propagation method(FD-BPM) is employed to calculate the guided mode profile of the waveguide.The stopping and range of ions in matter 2010(SRIM 2010) code is used to simulate the damage profile induced by the ion implantation. The experimental and theoretical results indicate that the waveguide can confine the light propagation.