Amnon Yariv

Large-area, semiconductor transverse Bragg resonance (TBR) lasers for efficient, high power operation

By incorporating a transverse Bragg grating into a large-area laser, the optical modes of the laser can be designed to improve the efficiency compared to traditional index-guided lasers. The resulting transverse Bragg resonance (TBR) waveguide can be designed to have a single lateral mode that is distributed throughout the entire width of the laser for efficient, stable, single lateral mode operation even at high powers. In addition, by designing the dispersion of the TBR modes, we can increase the modal gain at the desired lasing frequencies for further efficiency improvements. We have fabricated electrically pumped, semiconductor TBR lasers in the InP/InGaAsP material system to demonstrate the efficiency gains possible by the incorporation of such a transverse Bragg grating.By incorporating a transverse Bragg grating into a large-area laser, the optical modes of the laser can be designed to improve the efficiency compared to traditional index-guided lasers. The resulting transverse Bragg resonance (TBR) waveguide can be designed to have a single lateral mode that is distributed throughout the entire width of the laser for efficient, stable, single lateral mode operation even at high powers. In addition, by designing the dispersion of the TBR modes, we can increase the modal gain at the desired lasing frequencies for further efficiency improvements. We have fabricated electrically pumped, semiconductor TBR lasers in the InP/InGaAsP material system to demonstrate the efficiency gains possible by the incorporation of such a transverse Bragg grating.

Design of single-mode photonic crystal optical waveguides

Summary form only given. Photonic crystals have inspired a lot of interest recently due to their potential for controlling the propagation of light. Photonic crystals with line defects can be used for guiding light. A conventional method for making a two-dimensional (2D) dielectric-core photonic crystal (or PBG) waveguide is to remove one row of air columns. This usually results in a multimode waveguide. We present a more systematic way of making single-mode dielectric-core 2D PBG waveguides. It was recently shown that the main guiding mechanisms in dielectric-core PBG waveguides are total internal reflection and distributed Bragg reflection (DBR). The confinement of the guided mode in the center slab of the waveguide suggests that the properties of such modes can be modified by modifying the guiding structure in the vicinity of the center slab.

Hybrid Mach-Zehnder Racetrack Resonator for Fast, Low-Power Thermooptic Modulation and Coupling Control

An InGaAsP/InP optical modulator based on electrical control of waveguide-resonator coupling is demonstrated. Thermooptic switching with 18.5 dB contrast, switching power of 29 mW, and 1.8 μs rise time is measured.

Double phase mask fabrication of fiber Bragg gratings

The development of fiber Bragg gratings has enabled fabrication of a variety of different Bragg grating devices that were not possible previously, such as dispersion compensators and band-rejection filters.