High power 2-μm room-temperature continuous-wave operation of GaSb-based strained quantum-well lasers

A high power GaSb-based laser diode with lasing wavelength at 2 μm was fabricated and optimized. With the optimized epitaxial laser structure, the internal loss and the threshold current density decreased and the internal quantum efficiency increased. For uncoated broad-area lasers, the threshold current density was as low as 144 A/cm2 (72 A/cm2 per quantum well), and the slope efficiency was 0.2 W/A. The internal loss was 11 cm-1 and the internal quantum efficiency was 27.1%. The maximum output power of 357 mW under continuous-wave operation at room temperature was achieved. The electrical and optical properties of the laser diode were improved.     

High temperature operation of edge-emitting photonic-crystal distributed-feedback quantum cascade lasers at λ∼7.6 μm

We present large-area, edge-emitting, photonic-crystal (PC) distributed-feedback (DFB) quantum cascade lasers (QCLs) emitting at λ∼7.6 μm and operating up to a heat sink temperature of 80 °C. The lasers use the anticrossing of index- and Bragg-guided dispersions of rectangular lattice to control the optical mode in the wafer plane. Single-mode operation with a high signal-to-noise ratio of about 20 dB and narrow beam divergence of 6.2° was obtained. A high peak power of 630 mW at 20 °C and still more than 160 mW at 60 °C was observed. Such a high performance single-mode device is very important to expand the potential applications in the long-wave infrared range.     

High speed and wide temperature range uncooled 1.3-μm ridge waveguide DFB lasers

A 1.3-μm wavelength vertical-mesa ridge waveguide mulitple-quantum-well （MQW） distributed feedback （DFB） laser with high directly modulated bandwidth and wide operation temperature range is reported. With the optimization of the strained-layer MQWs in the active region, the surrounding graded-index separated-confinement-heterostructure waveguide layers, together with the optimization of the detuning and coupling coefficient of the DFB grating, high directly modulation bandwidth of 16 GHz at room temperature and wide working temperature range from -40 to 85 ℃ are obtained. The mean time to failure （MTTF） is estimated to be over 2×10^6 h. The device is suitable as light source of high-bit-rate optical transmitters with small size and reduced cost.     

Generation of optical waveforms in 1.3-μm SOA-based fiber lasers

Passive optical waveform generation is obtained in fiber lasers using a 1.3-μm semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) as the gain medium. Various waveforms, including square wave, staircase wave, triangular wave, pulse, and dark pulse are generated in SOA-based fiber lasers by adjusting intracavity polarization controllers. The passive waveform generation might be attributed to the SOA gain dynamics and the enhanced nonlinear interaction at the 1.3-μm zero dispersion wavelength of traditional single-mode fiber (SMF), as well as the interference effect between the two sub-cavities of fiber laser. With figure-8 cavity configuration, 1250th-order harmonic pulses have been successfully demonstrated. We have also obtained a free-running SOA-based fiber laser with 3-dB spectral width of 16 nm, and the center wavelength can be tuned over 45 nm range.     

The fabrication and performance of 1.3μm DFB EMBH lasers with coplanar contacts

The fabrication and performance characteristics of coplanar contact etched mesa-buried heterostructure (EMBH) distributed feedback (DFB) lasers emitting at 1.3μm wavelength are described. The processing was designed such that the lasers could be evaluated as coplanar contact or conventional (top/bottom) contact devices. The threshold current was as low as 14mA and the 3dB small signal response was as high as 9.4 GHz. Both these properties showed negligible differences when the device was biased either coplanarly or conventionally.     

High efficiency beam combination of 4.6-μm quantum cascade lasers

The quantum cascade laser （QCL）, a potential laser source for mid-infrared applications, has all of the advantages of a semiconductor laser, such as small volume and light weight, and is driven by electric power. However, the optical power of a single QCL is limited by serious self-heating effects. Therefore, beam combination technology is essential to achieve higher laser powers. In this letter, we demonstrate a simple beam combination scheme using two QCLs to extend the output peak power of the lasers to 2.3 W. A high beam combination efficiency of 89% and beam quality factor of less than 5 are also achieved.     

High power 1.57-μm OPO pumped by MOPA with SBS

A Nd:YAG master oscillator power amplifier (MOPA) system, pumped by a pulse flash-lamps as the pump source of optical parametric oscillator (OPO), is employed to improve the pump beam quality of OPO pump source. A back amplifying configuration with stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) phase conjugation mirror is used. OPO pump laser energy of 611 mJ/pulse with 30-ns pulse duration is obtained, and near diffraction limited beam quality is achieved. Based on the type Ⅱdegenerate non-critically phase-matched KTP crystal, the OPO is used to convert pump beam from 1.064 μm to 1.57 μm, eye-safe near infrared laser range source. 1.57-μm output energy of 209 mJ/pulse with 18-ns pulse duration is attained with a short cavity KTP OPO, when pump laser energy is approximately 611 mJ. OPO conversion efficiency is up to 38.7% when pump laser energy is approximately 200 mJ.     

High power all-fibered femtosecond master oscillator power amplifier at 1.56 μm

Direct amplification of output from chirped pulse oscillator (CPO) to 3.3?W of average power (pulse energy of 118?nJ in 20?ps pulse duration before compression) was achieved in a properly designed cladding pumped large mode area Er-doped fiber. Various configurations of CPO cavity with different FWHM of output spectrum and pulse duration were investigated. Fourier limit compression with 480?fs pulse duration and 32?kW peak power has been obtained for pulses with 14.8?nm FWHM spectrum. Subsequent nonlinear compression in a standard SMF-28 fiber yielded pulses as short as 145?fs.     

High peak power 1.0 μm and tri-wavelength 1.3 μm Nd:ScYSiO_5 crystal lasers

With a Nd:ScYSiO_5 crystal, a high peak power electro-optically Q-switched 1.0 μm laser and tri-wavelength laser operations at the 1.3 μm band are both investigated. With a rubidium titanyle phosphate(RTP) electro-optical switcher and a polarization beam splitter, a high signal-to-noise ratio 1.0 μm laser is obtained, generating a shortest pulse width of 30 ns, a highest pulse energy of 0.765 mJ, and a maximum peak power of 25.5 kW,respectively. The laser mode at the highest laser energy level is the TEM200 mode with the Mvalue in the X and Y directions to be M_x~2= 1.52 and M_y~2= 1.54. A tri-wavelength Nd:ScYSiO_5 crystal laser at 1.3 μm is also investigated. A maximum tri-wavelength output power is 1.03 W under the absorbed pump power of7 W, corresponding to a slope efficiency of 14.8%. The properties of the output wavelength are fully studied under different absorbed pump power.     

Thermal optimization of 1.55 μm OP-VECSEL with hybrid metal–metamorphic mirror for single-mode high power operation

We report on the thermal design and the characterization of InP-based 1.55 μm wavelength large diameter (～100 μm) optically pumped vertical external cavity surface emitting lasers (OP-VECSELs). The device is thermally optimized for high power ( > 70 mW) room-temperature (RT) continuous-wave (CW) single-mode operation. Efficient bottom heat dissipation in the 1/2-VCSEL chip is obtained thanks to the use of a hybrid metal– metamorphic GaAs/AlAs mirror integrated to the InP-based active region, and to subsequent soldering on a SiC substrate. A single-mode output power of 77mW is obtained under CW-RT laser operation, limited by the pump power. Moreover thermal simulations and characterizations of the 1/2-VCSEL chip show that even higher power could be obtained at higher pumping levels, using a CVD diamond substrate.     

Tensile-strained 1.3 μm InGaAs/InGaAlAs quantum well structure of high temperature characteristics

A new tensile strained InGaAs/InGaAlAs quantum well structure in the 1.3 μm wavelength region is proposed for high temperature characteristics via quantum well band structure and optical gain calculations. To obtain such features, a tensile-strained InGaAs/InGaAlAs quantum well structure, which emits light dominated by TM polarization, is considered. This proposed structure has very high temperature characteristics (T ₀ > 130 K) due to its high density of state at the first transition edge. This results clearly show the potential of tensile strained quantum well structure usage for the high temperature operation of quantum well semiconductor lasers.     

Fabrication and modulation characteristics of InGaAsP/InGaAsP MQW DCPBH lasers at λ ∼ 1.57 μm

InGaAsP/InGaAsP multiple-quantum-well (MQW) double-channel planar-buried heterostructure (DCPBH) lasers emitting at λ∼ 1.57 μm were fabricated by optimizing the epitaxial growth with material characterization. At 25 °C (85 °C), a 1.8-μm-wide and 300-μm-long antireflectivity/high reflectivity coated laser exhibits a threshold current of 8 mA (23 mA) and a slope efficiency of 0.34 mW/mA (0.24 mW/mA) in continuous-wave mode (cw) as a result of the optimized thickness of the p-InP filling layer in the PBH structure with p-n-p-n current blocking layers. The maximum cw output power was approximately 20 mW at 25 °C, which was reduced to 17 mW at 85 °C. The peak wavelength varied from 1572 nm at 25 °C to 1602 nm at 100 °C for a fixed output power of 5 mW, indicating a temperature coefficient of ∼ 0.4 nm/K. The resonance frequency in the small-signal modulation response of devices depends on the etching depth of the U-shaped double channel; it increases from 0.4 GHz without channel etching to 4.3 GHz with 7-μm-thick etching. The full-width at half maximum values in the horizontal and vertical far-field patterns were approximately 24.5° (25.2°) and 29.4° (30.1°), respectively, at 25 °C (85 °C). PACS 42.55.Px; 73.61.Ey; 81.05.Ea     

PbS-doped phosphate glasses saturable absorbers for 1.3-μm neodymium lasers

Passive mode locking and saturable absorber Q-switching of neodymium lasers at 1.3 μm with PbS-doped phosphate glasses are demonstrated. Q-switched pulses of 120 ns (0.1 μJ) in duration (energy) and the average output power of 3 mW from a quasi-cw diode-pumped Nd³⁺:KGW laser and ultrashort pulses of a maximum of 250 μJ in energy and 150 ps in duration from a Nd³⁺:YAP laser were obtained. The bleaching decay rate of the samples was found to increase with the Quantum Dot’s size decreasing due to the enhancement of quantum confinement effects for smaller dots and stronger overlapping of the electron and trap state wave functions. Received: 23 January 2002 / Revised version: 2 April 2002 / Published online: 20 December 2002 RID="*" ID="*"Corresponding author. Fax: +375-17/232-6286, E-mail: savitski@eudoramail.com     

Molecular beam epitaxial growth of high quality InAs/GaAs quantum dots for 1.3-μm quantum dot lasers

Systematic investigation of InAs quantum dot(QD) growth using molecular beam epitaxy has been carried out, focusing mainly on the InAs growth rate and its effects on the quality of the InAs/GaAs quantum dots.By optimizing the growth rate, high quality InAs/GaAs quantum dots have been achieved.The areal quantum dot density is 5.9× 10~(10) cm~(-2), almost double the conventional density(3.0 × 1010 cm~(-2)).Meanwhile, the linewidth is reduced to 29 meV at room temperature without changing the areal dot density.These improved QDs are of great significance for fabricating high performance quantum dot lasers on various substrates.     

1.55-μm InGaAs/InGaAlAs MQW vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers with InGaAlAs/InP distributed Bragg reflectors

High-performance InGaAs/InGaAlAs multiple-quantum-well vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) with InGaAlAs/InP distributed Bragg reflectors are proposed for operation at the wavelength of . The lasers have good heat diffusion characteristic, large index contrast in DBRs, and weak temperature sensitivity. They could be fabricated either by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) or by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) growth. The laser light-current characteristics indicate that a suitable reflectivity of the DBR on the light output side in a laser makes its output power increase greatly and its lasing threshold current reduce significantly, and that a small VCSEL could output the power around its maximum for the output mirror at the reflectivity varying in a broader range than a large VCSEL does.     

Design considerations to improve high temperature characteristics of 1.3 μm AlGaInAs-InP uncooled multiple quantum well lasers: Strain in barriers

Uncooled multiple quantum well lasers have great attraction because of their lower power dissipation and smaller size than traditional semiconductor lasers. In this study we will investigate the strain effect in barriers of 1.3 μm AlGaInAs-InP uncooled multiple quantum well lasers. We simulate a laser structure using a band-to-band transition approach. Single effective mass theory has been used for conduction band and Kohn-Luttinger Hamiltonian has been solved for valance band to obtain quantum states and envelope wave functions in the structure. In the case of unstrained barriers, the results have good agreement with a real device fabricated and presented in one of the references. Our main work is proposal of 0.2% compressive strain in the structure Barriers that cause 20% improvement in mode gain-current density characteristic. Significant reduction in leakage current density and Auger current density characteristics is also obtained at 85 °C. Optical gain-photon energy spectrum is increased more than 3% proportional to unstrained barriers.     

Formulation of the LED's radiant power⿿current characteristic at pulsed high currents

In many investigations on LEDs, the radiant power?current characteristic of LED has been drawing for high currents without giving any mathematical equation between them. The radiant power?current variation of LED can be expressed with a formula. In this study the thermal effect on radiant power of LED at pulsed high currents has been formulated and a mathematical equation has been derived between current amplitude and radiant power of LED. This equation has been examined by drawing theoretical and experimental variations on the same graph. In addition, the effect of instantaneous resistance?current variation of LED on its radiant power?current characteristic has been shown.     

High power, high energy nanosecond pulsed fiber amplifier with a 20-μm-core fiber

We report on a master-oscillator fiber power amplifier (MOPA) system with a core diameter of only 20 μm and 6-m-long Yb³⁺-doped large mode area (LMA) double-clad fiber. Actively Q-switched Nd:YVO₄ laser is used as a seed source of light pluses. The system works at the repetition rate from 40 to 100 kHz. Up to 77 W of amplified radiation with the pulse duration of 17.8 ns at the wavelength of 1064 nm and repetition rate of 40 kHz are generated, corresponding to pulse energy of 1.9 mJ and the slope efficiency of 73.5%. In reported literatures, the 77 W is the highest average power with a 20-μm-core LMA fiber to our knowledge. The stimulate Brillouin scattering (SBS) is observed and investigated.     

High Resolution and High Sensitivity Measurement of Methane at 1.51μm

The high-resolution absorption spectrum of CH4 at 1.51μm is observed by direct absorption spectroscopy technique with a White absorption cell. Multi-peak fitting technique is adopted to reveal line positions and line intensities of CH4 from 6608cm^-1 to 6625 cm^-1. Special attention is paid on the determination of the line positions, and the accuracy is better than ±0.002cm^-1. A minimum measurable absorption of 2.1×10^-8 （3σ） has been achieved based on the measured direct absorption spectroscopy.     

Comprehensive self-consistent three-dimensional simulation of an operation of the GaAs-based oxide-confined 1.3-μm quantum-dot (InGa)As/GaAs vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers

In the paper, a comprehensive fully self-consistent three-dimensional simulation of an operation of the GaAs-based oxide-confined long-wavelength 1.3-m quantum-dot (QD)(InGa)As/GaAs vertical-cavity surface-emitting diode lasers is demonstrated. The model has been intentionally prepared for the PC-class microcomputers to enable its easy application in designing optimal structures of the above devices with desired performance characteristics. An impact of some structure parameters on QD VCSEL room-temperature (RT) continuous-wave (CW) lasing thresholds is discussed. A stable RT CW operation on a single fundamental mode has been found to be possible in modern QD VCSELs with active regions containing more uniform and more dense QDs in stacks of QD layers. The desired single fundamental-transverse-mode operation is possible for smaller active regions of diameters not exceeding 8 m. In the case of larger active regions, on the other hand, higher-order transverse modes of an increasing order are excited first because of increasingly more non-uniform optical-gain distributions.