Wavelength-tunable organic semiconductor lasers based on elastic distributed feedback gratings

Wavelength-tunable organic semiconductor lasers based on mechanically stretchable polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) gratings were developed. The intrinsic stretchability of PDMS was explored to modulate the period of the distributed feedback gratings for fine tuning the lasing wavelength. Notably, elastic lasers based on three typical light-emitting molecules show com-parable lasing threshold values analogous to rigid devices and a continuous wavelength tunability of about 10 nm by mechanic-al stretching. In addition, the stretchability provides a simple solution for dynamically tuning the lasing wavelength in a spec-tral range that is challenging to achieve for inorganic counterparts. Our work has provided a simple and efficient method of fab-ricating tunable organic lasers that depend on stretchable distributed feedback gratings, demonstrating a significant step in the advancement of flexible organic optoelectronic devices.

975 nm multimode semiconductor lasers with high-order Bragg diffraction gratings

The 975 nm multimode diode lasers with high-order surface Bragg diffraction gratings have been simulated and calcu-lated using the 2D finite difference time domain(FDTD)algorithm and the scattering matrix method(SMM).The periods and etch depth of the grating parameters have been optimized.A board area laser diode(BA-LD)with high-order diffraction grat-ings has been designed and fabricated.At output powers up to 10.5 W,the measured spectral width of full width at half maxi-mum(FWHM)is less than 0.5 nm.The results demonstrate that the designed high-order surface gratings can effectively nar-row the spectral width of multimode semiconductor lasers at high output power.

Measurement of Cavity Loss and Quasi-Fermi-Level Separation for Fabry-Pérot Semiconductor Lasers

A fitting process is used to measure the cavity loss and the quasi Fermi level separation for Fabry Pérot semiconductor lasers.From the amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) spectrum,the gain spectrum and single pass ASE obtained by the Cassidy method are applied in the fitting process.For a 1550nm quantum well InGaAsP ridge waveguide laser,the cavity loss of about ～24cm -1 is obtained.

Analysis of the time domain characteristics of tapered semiconductor lasers

We use traveling wave coupling theory to investigate the time domain characteristics of tapered semiconductor lasers with DBR gratings.We analyze the influence of the length of second order gratings on the power and spectrum of output light,and optimizing the length of gratings,in order to reduce the mode competition effect in the device,and obtain the high power output light wave with good longitudinal mode characteristics.

Square microcavity semiconductor lasers

Square microcavities, which support whispering-gallery modes with total internal reflections, can be employed as high-quality laser resonators for fabricating compact, low-threshold semiconductor lasers. In this paper, we review the recent progress of square microcavity semiconductor lasers. The characteristics of confined optical modes in the square microcavities are introduced briefly. Based on the mode properties of the square microcavities, dual-mode lasers with tunable wavelength intervals are realized for generating microwave signals. Furthermore, deformed square microcavity lasers with the sidewalls replaced by circular sides are proposed and experimentally demonstrated to enhance the mode confinement and increase the dual-mode interval to the THz range. In order to further reduce the device size, metal-confined wavelength-scale square cavity lasers are also demonstrated.

Multi-target ranging using an optical reservoir computing approach in the laterally coupled semiconductor lasers with self-feedback

We utilize three parallel reservoir computers using semiconductor lasers with optical feedback and light injection to model radar probe signals with delays.Three radar probe signals are generated by driving lasers constructed by a threeelement laser array with self-feedback.The response lasers are implemented also by a three-element lase array with both delay-time feedback and optical injection,which are utilized as nonlinear nodes to realize the reservoirs.We show that each delayed radar probe signal can be predicted well and to synchronize with its corresponding trained reservoir,even when parameter mismatches exist between the response laser array and the driving laser array.Based on this,the three synchronous probe signals are utilized for ranging to three targets,respectively,using Hilbert transform.It is demonstrated that the relative errors for ranging can be very small and less than 0.6%.Our findings show that optical reservoir computing provides an effective way for applications of target ranging.

Multielectrode Semiconductor Lasers

Multielectrode semiconductor lasers are studied via the ray method.The expression of the output photon number of N -electrode semiconductor lasers has been derived for the first time.When N =1 or 2,the expression of the output photon number fits in that of one-electrode (general) or two-electrode semiconductor lasers perfectly.

Chaos Correlation in Open-loop Semiconductor Lasers Scheme Effected by Variable Feedback Time

The effect of optical feedback time （depend on the distance between the front facet of the laser and the external mirror） on the chaos synchronization in open-loop communication system have been investigated. In this system, the dynamics of semiconductor lasers with both the optical feedback and optical injection are coherently coupled with the internal laser field. The synchronization map becomes a cloud of points for some parameters values （no correlation between Master laser ML and Slave laser SL outputs）. It means that the two lasers are decoupled. It can be clearly seen when kf = 0.2, kinj = 0.4 and τ = 1 the correlation between these two laser outputs are in a diagonal line, which implies the excellent correlation between them and verifies their synchronization. It is evident that the synchronization quality of open-loop scheme improves for this value is better than that of the other amounts. Value is better than that of the other amounts.

Cavity-Mode Properties of Semiconductor Lasers Operating in Strong-Feedback Regime

This paper investigates the modal properties of semiconductor lasers operating in the strong-feedback regime. Analytical expressions are developed based on an iterative travelling-wave model, which enable a complete and quantitative description of a compound cavity mode in its steady state. Additional information is provided about the physical inside into a compound laser system, such as a bifurcation diagram of the compound cavity modes for full variation range （from 0 to 1） of the external reflection coefficient and a more general shape for the diagram of photon density versus mode phase - this latter will reduce to the classical ＂ellipse＂ in the weak-feedback regime. It is shown that in the strong-feedback regime, a feedback laser is characterized by a small mode number and a high density of photons. This behavior confirms previous experimental observations, showing that beyond the coherence-collapse regime, the compound laser system could be re-stabilized, and that as a result power-enhanced low-noise stable laser operation with quasi-uniform pulsation is possible with external-mirror reflectivity close to 1. Moreover, it is also shown that for a compound system operating in the strong-feedback regime, an anti-reflection treatment of a laser can significantly reduce its current threshold, and that in the absence of this treatment excitation of a minimum-linewidth mode with higher output power would be possible inside such a system. Finally, it is shown that in the weak-feedback regime except for a phase shift the iterative travelling-wave model will reduce to the Lang-Kobayashi model in cases where the product of the feedback rate and the internal round-trip time is much less than unity （that would mean in situations of as-cleaved lasers）.

Chaos synchronization in injection-locked semiconductor lasers with optical feedback

Based on the rate equations, we have investigated three types of chaos synchronizations in injection-locked semiconductor lasers with optical feedback. Numerical simulation shows that the synchronization can be realized by the symmetric or asymmetric laser systems. Also, the influence of parameter mismatches on chaos synchronization is investigated, and the results imply that these two lasers can achieve good synchronization, with smaller tolerance of parameter mismatch existing.

Graded doping low internal loss 1060-nm InGaAs/AlGaAs quantum well semiconductor lasers

Internal loss is a key internal parameter for high power 1060-nm InGaAs/A1GaAs semiconductor laser. In this paper, we discuss the origin of internal loss of 1060-nm InGaAs/GaAs quantum welt （QW） AIGaAs separate confinement het- erostructure semiconductor laser, and the method to reduce internal loss. By light doping the n-cladding layer, and stepwise doping the p-cladding layer combined with the expanded waveguide layer, a broad area laser with internal loss of 1/cm is designed and fabricated. Ridge waveguide laser with an output power of 350 mW is obtained. The threshold current and slope efficiency near the threshold current are 20 mA and 0.8 W/A, respectively.

Waveguide external cavity narrow linewidth semiconductor lasers

Narrow linewidth light source is a prerequisite for high-performance coherent optical communication and sensing.Waveguide-based external cavity narrow linewidth semiconductor lasers(WEC-NLSLs)have become a competitive and attractive candidate for many coherent applications due to their small size,volume,low energy consumption,low cost and the ability to integrate with other optical components.In this paper,we present an overview of WEC-NLSLs from their required technologies to the state-of-the-art progress.Moreover,we highlight the common problems occurring to current WEC-NLSLs and show the possible approaches to resolving the issues.Finally,we present the possible development directions for the next phase and hope this review will be beneficial to the advancements of WEC-NLSLs.

Polarization switching and synchronization of mutually coupled vertical-cavity surface-emitting semiconductor lasers

Polarization switching （PS） dynamics and synchronization performances of two mutually coupled vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers （VCSELs） are studied theoretically in this paper. A group of dimensionless rate equations is derived to describe our model. While analysing the PS characteristics, we focus on the effects of coupling rate and frequency detuning regarding different mutual injection types. The results indicate that the x-mode injection defers the occurrence of PS, while the y-mode injection leads the PS to occur at a lower current. Strong enough polarization-selective injection can suppress the PS. Moreover, if frequency detuning is considered, the effects of polarization-selective mutual injection will be weakened. To evaluate the synchronization performance, the correlation coefficients and output dynamics of VCSELs with both pure mode and mixed mode polarizations are given. It is found that performance of complete synchronization is sensitive to the frequency mismatch but it is little affected by mixed mode polarizations, which is opposite to the case of injection-locking synchronization.

Research on quantum well intermixing of 680 nm AlGaInP/GaInP semiconductor lasers induced by composited Si-Si_(3)N_(4) dielectric layer

The optical catastrophic damage that usually occurs at the cavity surface of semiconductor lasers has become the main bottleneck affecting the improvement of laser output power and long-term reliability.To improve the output power of 680 nm AlGaInP/GaInP quantum well red semiconductor lasers,Si-Si_(3)N_(4)composited dielectric layers are used to induce its quantum wells to be intermixed at the cavity surface to make a non-absorption window.Si with a thickness of 100 nm and Si_(3)N_(4)with a thickness of 100 nm were grown on the surface of the epitaxial wafer by magnetron sputtering and PECVD as diffusion source and driving source,respectively.Compared with traditional Si impurity induced quantum well intermixing,this paper realizes the blue shift of 54.8 nm in the nonabsorbent window region at a lower annealing temperature of 600 ℃ and annealing time of 10 min.Under this annealing condition,the wavelength of the gain luminescence region basically does not shift to short wavelength,and the surface morphology of the whole epitaxial wafer remains fine after annealing.The application of this process condition can reduce the difficulty of production and save cost,which provides an effective method for upcoming fabrication.

Waveguide Design Optimization for Long Wavelength Semiconductor Lasers with Low Threshold Current and Small Beam Divergence

Long wavelength GaSb-based quantum well lasers have been optimized for high coupling efficiency into an optical system. Two approaches were used to reduce the vertical far-field. In the first approach we showed the use of V-shaped Weaker Waveguide in the n-cladding layer dramatically reduces vertical beam divergence without any performance degradation compared to a conventional broad-waveguide laser structure. Starting from a broad waveguide laser structure design which gives low threshold current and a large vertical far-field (VFF), the structure was modified to decrease the VFF while maintaining a low threshold-current density. In a first step the combination of a narrow optical waveguide and reduced refractive index step between the waveguide and the cladding layers reduce the VFF from 67? to 42?. The threshold current density was kept low to a value of ~190 A/cm2 for 1000 × 100 μm2 devices by careful adjustment of the doping profile in the p-type cladding layer. The insertion of a V-Shaped Weaker Waveguide in the n-cladding layer is shown to allow for further reduction of the VFF to a value as low as 35? for better light-coupling efficiency into an optical system without any degradation of the device performance. In the second approach, we showed that the use of a depressed cladding structure design also allows for the reduction of the VFF while maintaining low the threshold current density (210 A/cm2), slightly higher value compare to the first design.

Semiconductor Optical Amplifier and Gain Chip Used in Wavelength Tunable Lasers

The design concept of semiconductor optical amplifier(SOA)and gain chip used in wavelength tunable lasers(TL)is discussed in this paper.The design concept is similar to that of a conventional SOA or a laser;however,there are a few different points.An SOA in front of the tunable laser should be polarization dependent and has low optical confinement factor.To obtain wide gain bandwidth at the threshold current,the gain chip used in the tunable laser cavity should be something between SOA and fixed-wavelength laser design,while the fixed-wavelength laser has high optical confinement factor.Detailed discussion is given with basic equations and some simulation results on saturation power of the SOA and gain bandwidth of gain chip are shown.

Analysis of Distributed Phase Shift in Distributed Feedback Semiconductor Lasers

A new algorithm based on a transfer matrix method is given to analyze a new distributed feedback(DFB)structure-distributed phase shift in DFB laser.In the small signal analysis,a new model is presented with this algorithm.Compared withλ/4 phase-shifted DFB and three phase shifted DFB lasers,this structure shows superior characteristics in both static and dynamic behavior.

Synchronization and bidirectional communication without delay line using strong mutually coupled semiconductor lasers

This paper numerically demonstrates synchronization and bidirectional communication without delay line by using two semiconductor lasers with strong mutual injection in a face-to-face configuration. These results show that both of the two lasers＇ outputs synchronize with their input chaotic carriers. In addition, simulations demonstrate that this kind of synchronization can be used to realize bidirectional communications without delay line. Further studies indicate that within a small deviation in message amplitudes of two sides （±6%）, the message can be extracted with signal-noise-ratio more than 10 dB; and the signal-noise-ratio is extremely sensitive to the message rates mismatch of two sides, which may be used as a key of bidirectional communication.

Compression of the self-Q-switching in semiconductor disk lasers with single-layer graphene saturable absorbers

We demonstrate the first use of single layer graphene for compressing self-Q-switching pulses in semiconductor disk lasers. The gain region of the semiconductor disk laser used InGaAs quantum wells with a central wavelength of 1030 nm. Due to self saturable absorption of the quantum wells, the disk laser emitted at the self-Q-switching state with a pulse width of 13 μs. By introducing the single layer graphene as a saturable absorber into the V-shaped laser cavity, the pulse width of the self-pulse was compressed to 2 μs with a lower pump power of 300 mW. As the pump power was increased, multiple pulses with the pulse width of 1.8 μs appeared. The compression factor was about 7.2.

Studies on Three-electrode Semiconductor Lasers

Using the ray trace method, three-section semiconductor lasers are studied. An analytic expression of output power for the three-section semiconductor lasers is derived for the first time. From this expression, threshold condition is also obtained.