Distributed feedback lasers: An overview

Distributed feedback (DFB) lasers were considered promising light-source candidates for coherent optical transmissions over a long-distance. In this paper, the development history of distributed feedback laser diodes (DFB-LDs) is briefly described, followed by a review of the theoretical analysis of DFB structures. Different DFB structures are investigated theoretically, with their performances compared in terms of threshold gain, spectral linewidth, stability, and external differential quantum efficiency. The analysis reveals the need for further improvement of DFB structures and further investigations into other characteristics of DFB-LDs before the DFB-LD can be used more efficiently for coherent optical transmissions.