Green Vertical‑Cavity Surface‑Emitting Lasers Based on InGaN Quantum Dots and Short Cavity

Room temperature low threshold lasing of green GaNbased vertical cavity surface emitting laser(VCSEL)was demonstrated under continuous wave(CW)operation.By using self-formed InGaN quantum dots(QDs)as the active region,the VCSEL emitting at 524.0 nm has a threshold current density of 51.97 A cm^(-2),the lowest ever reported.The QD epitaxial wafer featured with a high IQE of 69.94%and theδ-function-like density of states plays an important role in achieving low threshold current.Besides,a short cavity of the device(~4.0λ)is vital to enhance the spontaneous emission coupling factor to 0.094,increase the gain coefficient factor,and decrease the optical loss.To improve heat dissipation,AlN layer was used as the current confinement layer and electroplated copper plate was used to replace metal bonding.The results provide important guidance to achieving high performance GaN-based VCSELs.

Broad bandwidth interference filter-stabilized external cavity diode laser with narrow linewidth below 100kHz

Interference filter-stabilized external cavity diode lasers （ECDLs） have properties of simple configurations, high sta- bilities, and narrow linewidths. However, the interference filter used in common ECDL designs requires an ultra-narrow bandwidth （about 0.3 nm） to achieve mode selection, that is considerably expensive and not yet available for a wide range of wavelengths. In this paper, a robust ECDL using an available broad bandwidth （about 4 nm） interference filter as the wavelength discriminator is constructed and tested. The ECDL demonstrated a narrow Lorentzian fitted linewidth of 95 kHz and a spectral purity of 2.9 MHz. The long-term frequency stability of the ECDL reaches 5.59 x 10 12.

Dual-Wavelength Bad Cavity Laser as Potential Active Optical Frequency Standard

We experimentally realize the dual-wavelength bad cavity laser for the first time. As the Cs cell temperature is kept between 118℃ and 144℃, both the 1359nm and 147Ohm lasing outputs of dual-wavelength bad cavity laser are detected. The laser output power of dual-wavelength bad cavity laser is measured when changing the 455 nm pumping laser frequency and power at 127℃ Cs cell temperature. Both the 1359 nm laser and the 1470 nm laser are working at the deep bad cavity regime, and the ratio between the linewidth of cavity mode and the laser gain bandwidth a ≈ 40 for 1359nm and 1470nm lasers. The 147Ohm laser linewidth is measured to be 407.3Hz. The dual-wavelength bad cavity laser operating on atomic transitions demonstrated here has a potential in the application as a stable optical local oscillator, even an active optical frequency standard directly in the future.

Broadband tunable external cavity laser using a bent-waveguide quantum-dot superluminescent diode as gain device

A broadband tunable grating-coupled external cavity laser is realized by employing a self-assembled InAs/GaAs quantum-dot （QD） superluminescent diode （SLD） as the gain device. The SLD device is processed with a bent-waveguide structure and facet antireflection （AR） coating. Tuning bandwidths of 106 nm and 117 nm are achieved under a-A and 3.5-A injection currents, respectively. The large tuning range originates essentially from the broad gain spectrum of self-assembled QDs. The bent waveguide structure combined with the facet AR coating plays a role in suppressing the inner-cavity lasing under a large injection current.

A High-Pulse-Energy High-Beam-Quality Tunable Ti:Sapphire Laser Using a Prism-Dispersion Cavity

A high-pulse-energy high-beam-quality tunable Ti：sapphire laser pumped by a frequency-doubled Nd：YAG laser is demonstrated. Using a fused-silica prism as the dispersion element, a tuning range of 740-855 nm is obtained. At an incident pump energy of 774mJ, the maximum output energy of 104mJ at 790nm with a pulse width of 100μs is achieved at a repetition rate of 5 Hz. To the best of our knowledge, it is the highest pulse energy at 790 nm with pulse width of hundred micro-seconds for an all-solid-state laser. The linewidth of output is 0.5 nm, and the beam quality factor M2 is 1.16. The high-pulse-energy high-beam-quality tunable Ti：sapphire laser in the range of 740-855 nm can be used to establish a more accurate and consistent absolute scale of second-order optical-nonlinear coefficients for KBe2BO3F2 measured in a wider wavelength range and to assess Miller＇s rule quantitatively.

Thermal Analysis of Implant-Defined Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Laser Array

A three-dimensional electrical-thermal coupling model based on the finite element method is applied to study thermal properties of implant-defined vertical cavity surface emitting laser （VCSEL） arrays. Several parameters including inter-element spacing, scales, injected current density and substrate temperature are considered. The actual temperatures obtained through experiment are in excellent agreement with the calculated results, which proves the accuracy of the model. Due to the serious thermal problem, it is essential to design arrays of low self-heating. The analysis can provide a foundation for designing VCSEL arrays in the future.

Low fabrication cost wavelength tunable WG-FP hybrid-cavity laser working over 1.7μm

A wide wavelength tuning range and single-mode hybrid cavity laser consists of a square Whispering-Gallery(WG)microcavity and a Fabry–Pérot(FP)was introduced and demonstrated.A wavelength tuning range over 12.5 nm from 1760.87 to 1773.39 nm which was single-mode emitting was obtained with the side-mode suppression ratio over 30 dB.The hybrid cavity laser does not need grating etching and special epitaxial structure,which reduces the fabrication difficulty and cost,and shows the potential for gas sensing with absorption lines in this range.

A 1550-nm linearly tunable continuous wave single-mode external cavity diode laser based on a single-cavity all-dielectric thin-film Fabry Pérot filter

A 1550-nm linearly tunable continuous wave （CW） single-mode external cavity diode laser （ECDL） based on a singlecavity all-dielectric thin-film Fabry-Pérot filter （s-AFPF） is proposed and realized in this paper. Its internal optical components as well as their operation mechanisms are introduced first, and then its longitudinal mode output characteristic is theoretically analyzed. Afterwards, we set up the experimental platform for the output characteristic measurement of this tunable ECDL; under different experimental conditions, we execute accurate and real-time measurements for the output central wavelength, output optical power, output longitudinal mode distribution, and the line-width of the tunable ECDL in its tuning process. By summing up the optimal experimental condition from the measured data, we obtain the optimal tunable ECDL relevant parameters： the tunable ECDL has a linear mode-hop-free wavelength tuning region of 1547.203 nm-1552.426 nm, a stable output optical power in the range of 40 μW-50 μW, and a stable output longitudinal mode distribution of a single longitudinal mode with a line-width in the range of 100 MHz-150 MHz. This tunable ECDL can be used in environmental gas monitoring, atomic and molecular laser spectroscopy research, precise measurements, and so on.

Simulation of Far-Field Properties of Coherent Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Laser Array

Far-field properties dependent on array scale, separation, element width and emitted wavelength are system atically analyzed theoretically and experimentally. An array model based on the finite-difference method is established to simulate the far-field profile of the coherent arrays. Some important conclusions are obtained. To achieve a higher quality beam, it is necessary to decrease separation between elements, or to increase the element width. Higher brightness can be achieved in the array with larger scale. Emitted wavelength also has an influence on the far-field profile. These analyses can be extended to the future design of coherent vertical cavity surface emitting laser arrays.

An efficient approach to characterizing and calculating carrier loss due to heating and barrier height variation in vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers

It is important to determine quantitatively the internal carrier loss arising from heating and barrier height variation in a vertical-cavity surface-emitting quantum well laser （VCSEL）. However, it is generally difficult to realize this goal using purely theoretical formulas due to difficulty h, deriving the parameters relat^i~g to the quantum well structure. In this paper, we describe an efl：icient approach to characterizing and calculating the carrier loss due to the heating and the barrier height change in the VCSEL. In the method, the thermal carrier loss mechanism is combined with gain measurement and calculation. The carrier loss is re-characterized in a calculable form by constructing the threshold current and gain detuning-related loss current using the measured gain data and then substituting them for the quantum well-related parameters in the formula. The result can be expressed as a product of an exponential weight factor linked to the barrier height change and the difference between the threshold current and gain detuning-related loss current. The gain variation at cavity frequency due to thermal carrier loss and gain detuning processes is measured by using an AllnGaAs-AIGaAs VCSEL structure. This work provides a useful approach to analysing threshold and loss properties of the VCSEL, particularly, gain offset design for high temperature operation of VCSELs.

Vertical cavity surface emitting laser transverse mode and polarization control by elliptical hole photonic crystal

The polarization of traditional photonic crystal（PC） vertical cavity surface emitting laser（VCSEL） is uncontrollable,resulting in the bit error increasing easily.Elliptical hole photonic crystal can control the transverse mode and polarization of VCSEL efficiently.We analyze the far field divergence angle,and birefringence of elliptical hole PC VCSEL.When the ratio of minor axis to major axis b/a = 0.7,the PC VCSEL can obtain single mode and polarization.According to the simulation results,we fabricate the device successfully.The output power is 1.7 mW,the far field divergence angle is less than 10°,and the side mode suppression ratio is over 30 dB.The output power in the Y direction is 20 times that in the X direction.

Beam Steering Analysis in Optically Phased Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Laser Array

Beam steering in implant defined coherently coupled vertical cavity surface emitting laser （VCSEL） arrays is simulated using the FDTD solution software. Angular deflection dependent on relative phase differences among elements, inter-element spacing, element size and emitted wavelength is analyzed detailedly and systematically. We design and fabricate 1×2 implant defined VCSEL arrays for optimum beam steering performance. Electroni- cally controlled beam steering with a maximum deflection angle of 1.6° is successfully achieved in the 1 × 2 VCSEL arrays. The percentage of the power in the central lobe is above 39% when steering. The results show that the steering is controllable. Compared with other beam steering methods, the fabrication process is simple and of low cost.

External Cavity Tuning of Coherent Quantum Cascade Laser Array Emitting at^7.6μm

An external cavity quantum cascade laser （QCL） array with a wide tuning range and high output power is pre- sented. The coherent QCL array combined with a diffraction grating and gold mirror is tuned in the Littrow configuration. Taking advantage of the single-lobed fundamental supermode far-field pattern, the tuning capa- bility of 30.6cm-1 is achieved with a fixed injected current of 3.5 A at room temperature. Single-mode emission can be observed in the entire process. The maximum single-mode output power of the external cavity setup is as high as 25mW and is essential in real applications.

Simplified modeling of frequency behavior in photonic crystal vertical cavity surface emitting laser with tunnel injection quantum dot in active region

In this work, the characteristics of the photonic crystal tunneling injection quantum dot vertical cavity surface emitting lasers（Ph C-TIQD-VCSEL） are studied through analyzing a modified modulation transfer function. The function is based on the rate equations describing the carrier dynamics at different energy levels of dot and injector well. Although the frequency modulation response component associated with carrier dynamics in wetting layer（WL） and at excited state（ES） levels of dots limits the total bandwidth in conventional QD-VCSEL, our study shows that it can be compensated for by electron tunneling from the injector well into the dot in TIQD structure. Carrier back tunneling time is one of the most important parameters, and by increment of that, the bias current dependence of the total bandwidth will be insignificant. It is proved that at high bias current, the limitation of the WL-ES level plays an important role in reducing the total bandwidth and results in rollovers on 3-d B bandwidth-I curves. In such a way, for smaller air hole diameter of photonic crystal, the effect of this reduction is stronger.

A self-seeded fiber laser incorporated with a fiber Bragg grating external cavity semiconductor laser

A self-seeded fiber laser incorporated with a fiber Bragg grating external cavity semiconductor laser (FBG-ECL) and a Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) were reported in this paper. The MZI provided a Q-switching with response time in the order of micro-seconds. The FBG-ECL provided narrow pulses as seeds to shorten the Q-switched pulses. Experimentally, pulse width of 0.8 μs was measured, which was one fifth of the pulse width without self-seeding.

Single fundamental mode photonic crystal VCSEL with high power and low threshold current optimized by modal loss analysis

The characteristics of the photonic crystal vertical cavity surface emitting lasers（PhC-VCSELs） were investigated by using the full vector finite-difference time-domain（FDTD） method through the transverse mode loss analysis. PhC-VCSELs with different photonic crystal structures were analyzed theoretically and experimentally. Through combining the dual mode confinement of oxide aperture and seven-point-defect photonic crystal structure, the PhC-VCSELs with low threshold current of 0.9 mA and maximum output power of 3.1 mW operating in single fundamental mode were demonstrated. Mode loss analysis method was proven as a reliable and useful way to analyze and optimize the PhC-VCSELs.

Short Cavity DFB Fiber Laser Based Vector Hydrophone for Low Frequency Signal Detection

A short cavity distributed feedback （DFB） fiber laser is used for low frequency acoustic signal detection. Three DFB fiber lasers with different central wavelengths are chained together to make three-element vector hydrophone with proper sensitivity enhancement design, which has extensive and significant applications to underwater acoustic monitoring for the national defense, oil, gas exploration, and so on. By wavelength-phase demodulation, the lasing wavelength changes under different frequency signals can be interpreted, and the sensitivity is tested about 33 d13 re pm/g. The frequency response range is rather fiat from 5 Hz to 300Hz.

Stable single-mode operation of 894.6 nm VCSEL at high temperatures for Cs atomic sensing

In this paper, stable single-mode operation at high temperatures is produced by the surface-relief-integrated vertical cavity surface emitting laser（VCSEL）. The gain-cavity mode detuning technique is employed to realize high operating temperatures for the VCSEL. The surface relief is etched in the centre of the top side as a mode discriminator for the fundamental mode output, and the threshold current minimum is 1.94 mA at high temperatures by the gain-cavity mode detuning technique. Maximum single-fundamental-mode output power of 0.45 mW at 80℃ is obtained, and the side mode suppression ratios（SMSRs） are more than 30 dB with increasing temperature and current, respectively.

1.65μm square-FP coupled cavity semiconductor laser for methane gas detection

We report a 1.65μm square-Fabry–Pérot[FP]coupled cavity semiconductor laser for methane gas detection.The laser output optical power can reach 7.4 m W with the side mode suppression ratio about 40 d B.The wavelength tuning range is 2 nm by adjusting the FP cavity injection current,covering the methane absorption line at 1653.72 nm.The lasing wavelength can also be tuned by adjusting the square microcavity injection current or temperature,respectively.Methane gas detection is successfully demonstrated utilizing this laser.

Compact external cavity diode laser for quantum experiments

We present a compact and practical scheme of building a ~780 nm external cavity diode laser(ECDL) whose wavelength is mainly determined by an interference filter. The Lorentzian linewidth measured by the heterodyne beating between two identical lasers is 60 k Hz, and the geometry size of the laser is only 71.5 mm×65 mm×40 mm. The linear cavity design is less sensitive to misalignment induced by mechanical and thermal disturbances, and in comparison to a common grating-based design, the sensitivity to vibration is substantially reduced. Due to its excellent performance, the laser design has already been applied to cold atom trapping experiments. This interference filter ECDL method can also be extended to other wavelengths and widen the application range of diode laser.