Alvaro Jimenez

Integrated InP Heterodyne Millimeter Wave Transmitter

A monolithically integrated tunable heterodyne source designed for the generation and modulation of sub-terahertz signals is demonstrated. Distributed feedback lasers, semiconductor optical amplifier amplifiers, passive waveguides, beam combiners, electro-optic modulators, and high-speed photodetectors have been monolithically integrated on the same InP-based platform. Millimeter wave generation at up to 105 GHz based on heterodyning the optical tones from two integrated lasers in the integrated high bandwidth unitraveling-carrier photodetector has been demonstrated. This photonic integrated chip was used in a 100-Mb/s OOK wireless transmission experiment using the integrated amplitude modulator.

Narrow-line diode laser packaging and integration in the NIR and MIR spectral range

Narrow linewidth tunable diode lasers are an important tool for spectroscopic instrumentation. Conventional external cavity diode lasers are designed as laboratory instrument and do not allow hand-held operation for portable instruments. A new miniaturized type of tunable external cavity tunable diode laser will be presented. The presentation will focus on requirements on the assembly technology of micro-optic components as well as on the physical properties of such devices. Examples for the realization of this new technology will be given in the NIR for Alkaline Spectroscopy as well as in the MIR at 1908nm.

A real-time multi-gases detection and concentration measurements based-on time-division multiplexed-lasers

We report the development of a platform, based-on a Field-Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) and suitable for Time-Division-Multiplexed DFB lasers. The designed platform is subsequently combined with a spectroscopy setup, for detection and quantification of species in a gas mixture. The experimental results show a detection limit of 460 ppm, an uncertainty of 0.1% and a computation time of less than 1000 clock cycles. The proposed system offers a high level of flexibility and is applicable to arbitrary types of gas-mixtures.

FPGA Locking to Acetylene (C2H2) Hyperfine Structure

A 1530 nm high power tunable diode laser system with FPGA locking to acetylene is presented. The system is locked to the hyperfine structure of the R5 state with excellent long term stability.

Single mode GaSb diode lasers for sensor applications in a long wavelength regime

The wavelength, λ, range of 1.8  μm≤λ≤3.5  μm contains strong spectral absorption lines of many gases used in health, industry, safety, and medicine and whose sensitive and quantitative detection is desirable. However, the performance of InP diode lasers markedly deteriorates beyond λ∼2  μm. In this paper we present new results on developing tunable high power single mode laser diodes based on the GaSb material system with emission in the wavelength range of 1.8  μm≤λ≤2.2  μm.

Dual-wavelength operation of monolithically integrated arrayed waveguide grating lasers for optical heterodyning

A cost-effective solution to provide higher data rates in wireless communication system is to push carrier wave frequencies into millimeter wave (MMW) range, where the frequency bands within the E-band and F-band have been allocated. Photonics is a key technology to generate low phase noise signals, offering methods of generating continuous MMW with varying performance in terms of frequency bandwidth, tunability, and stability. Recently, we demonstrated for the first time of our knowledge the generation of a 95-GHz signal by optical heterodyning of two modes from different channels of a monolithically integrated arrayed waveguide grating multi-wavelength laser (AWGL). The device uses an arrayed waveguide grating (AWG) as an intra-cavity filter. With up to 16-channel sources with independent amplifiers and a booster amplifier on the common waveguide, the laser cavity is formed between cleaved facets of the chip. The two wavelengths required for optical heterodyning are generated activating simultaneously two channel SOAs and the Boost amplifier. In this work, we analyze the effect on the dual-wavelength operation of the Boost SOA, which is shared by two wavelengths. Mapping the optical spectrum, sweeping the two channel and Boost bias currents, we show the interaction among the different SOAs two find the regions of dual wavelength operation. The size of dual wavelength operation region depends greatly on the Boost SOA bias level. Initial results of a numerical model of the AWGL will be also presented, in which a digital filter is used to implement the AWG frequency behavior.