Back to results
US 2003/0151804 A1Published application
Extended bandwidth semiconductor optical amplifier
AssigneeFinisar Corporation
InventorsJan Lipson, Chris Dries
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A Semiconductor Optical Amplifier (SOA) with extended bandwidth and the method of fabricating the same are disclosed. In one embodiment, the SOA includes a Multiple Quantum Well (MQW) stacks whose thickness varies along the length of the device. The SOA has a flatter and broader gain spectrum than SOAs with substantially flat MQW stacks.
Claims19
A semiconductor optical amplifier, comprising:
- a first end and a second end along a direction of light propagation;
- and
- an active layer including multiple quantum well stacks disposed between the first end and the second end and along the direction of light propagation, wherein a thickness of the multiple quantum well stacks varies along the direction of light propagation.
An extended bandwidth semiconductor optical amplifier, comprising:
- a substrate;
- a mesa structure disposed on the substrate, the mesa structure having a light-receiving end and a light-emitting end along a direction of light propagation, the mesa structure further having active layers therein for amplifying an optical signal received at the light-receiving end to produce an amplified optical signal for emission at the light-emitting end;
- and
- the active layers including at least a multiple quantum well stack disposed between the light-receiving end and the light-emitting end and along the direction of light propagation, wherein a thickness of the multiple quantum stack varies from the light-receiving end to the light-emitting end so as to achieve peak amplification of the optical signal across a range of wavelengths that is more than forty nanometers wide.
1 more element
A method of forming a semiconductor optical amplifier, comprising:
- forming a mask over a semiconductor substrate, the mask having two portions that define an unmasked area, wherein a width of a gap between the two portions of the mask varies;
- and
- depositing semiconductor materials on the unmasked area to form layers of semiconductor materials, the layers including at least one multiple quantum well stack whose thickness varies according to the width of the gap.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.