Back to results
US 2003/0198269 A1Published application
Semiconductor laser with gain waveguide layer providing transversal and longitudinal mode stability
AssigneeADC Telecommunications, Inc.
InventorJan Olof Wesstrom
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A high-power semiconductor laser with a gain waveguide layer tailored to provide transverse and lateral mode stability is disclosed. The gain waveguide layer has a width that varies in proportion to the power distribution within the layer. Narrow sections of the gain waveguide layer provide transversal stability by filtering out higher order modes, while the wide sections reduce the average four-wave mixing and the resultant longitudinal modal instabilities.
Claims25
A semiconductor laser comprising:
- a tuning section with a waveguide layer having a first width;
- a gain section with a gain waveguide layer having a front facet and a rear end that define a laser cavity, the gain section coupled to the waveguide layer of the tuning section at the rear end to form a joint to the tuning section, the gain waveguide layer formed on a mesa between a layer of n-doped indium phosphide (n-InP) and a layer of p-doped indium phosphide (p-InP);
- a varying power distribution within the gain waveguide layer;
- and
- wherein the width of the gain waveguide layer corresponds to the distribution of power and matches the width of the tuning section waveguide layer at the joint to the tuning section and matches a select width at the front facet.
2 more elements
A laser module comprising:
- a semiconductor laser having a tuning section that includes a phase section and a reflector section and a waveguide layer having a first width, a gain section with a gain layer having a front facet and a rear end that define a laser cavity, the gain layer coupled to the waveguide layer of the tuning section at the rear end to form a joint to the tuning section rear end, wherein the gain layer is formed on a mesa between a layer of n-doped indium phosphide (n-InP) and a layer of p-doped indium phosphide (p-InP);
- a varying power distribution within the gain waveguide layer, wherein the width of the gain waveguide layer corresponds to the distribution of power and matches the width of the tuning section waveguide layer at the joint to the tuning section;
- first, second and third current sources electrically connected to the gain section, phase section and reflector section, respectively;
- and
- a programmable controller connected to the first, second and third current sources and programmed to control the current sources to deliver select amounts of current to the respective sections.
2 more elements
A distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) semiconductor laser, comprising:
- a reflector section containing a first portion of a tunable waveguide layer with a periodic grating adjacent the tunable waveguide;
- a phase section adjoining the reflector section and containing a second portion of the tunable waveguide including a first end having a first width;
- a gain section adjoining the phase section and having a gain waveguide layer coupled to the first end of the tunable waveguide layer, the gain waveguide layer having a front facet, a rear end serving as a joint to the tuning section, and a width that varies in proportion to a power distribution within the gain waveguide layer.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.