F. J. Favire

High-performance uncooled 1.3-/spl mu/m Al/sub x/Ga/sub y/In/sub 1-x-y/As/InP strained-layer quantum-well lasers for subscriber loop applications

Design considerations for fabricating highly efficient uncooled semiconductor lasers are discussed. The parameters investigated include the temperature characteristics of threshold current, quantum efficiency, and modulation speed. To prevent carrier overflow under high-temperature operation, the electron confinement energy is increased by using the Al/sub x/Ga/sub y/In/sub 1-x-y/As/InP material system instead of the conventional Ga/sub x/In/sub 1-x/As/sub y/P/sub 1-y//InP material system. To reduce the transparency current and the carrier-density-dependent loss due to the intervalence-band absorption, strained-layer quantum wells are chosen as the active layer. Experimentally, 1.3-/spl mu/m compressive-strained five-quantum-well lasers and tensile-strained three-quantum-well lasers were fabricated using a 3-/spl mu/m wide ridge-waveguide laser structure. For both types of lasers, the intrinsic material parameters are found to be similar in magnitude and in temperature dependence if they are normalized to each well. Specifically, the compressive-strained five-quantum-well lasers show excellent extrinsic temperature characteristics, such as small drop of 0.3 dB in differential quantum efficiency when the heat sink temperature changes from 25 to 100/spl deg/C, and a large small-signal modulation bandwidth of 8.6 GHz at 85/spl deg/C. The maximum 3 dB modulation bandwidth was measured to be 19.6 GHz for compressive-strained lasers and 17 GHz for tensile-strained-lasers by an optical modulation technique. The strong carrier confinement also results in a small k-factor (0.25 ns) which indicates the potential for high-speed modulation up to 35 GHz. In spite of the aluminum-containing active layer, no catastrophic optical damage was observed at room temperature up to 218 mW for compressive-strained five-quantum-well lasers and 103 mW for tensile-strained three-quantum-well lasers. For operating the compressive-strained five-quantum-well lasers at 85/spl deg/C with more than 5 mW output power, a mean-time-to-failure (MTTF) of 9.4 years is projected from a preliminary life test. These lasers are highly attractive for uncooled, potentially low-cost applications in the subscriber loop. >

Low-threshold 1.5 mu m compressive-strained multiple- and single-quantum-well lasers

Design considerations for low-threshold 1.5- mu m lasers using compressive-strained quantum wells are discussed. Parameters include transparency current density, maximum modal gain, bandgap wavelength, and carrier confinement. The optical confinement for a thin quantum well in the separate-confinement heterostructure (SCH) and the step graded-index separate-confinement heterostructure (GRINSCH) are analyzed and compared. 1.5- mu m compressive-strained multiple- and single-quantum-well lasers have been fabricated and characterized. As a result of the compressive strain, the threshold current density is loss limited instead of transparency limited. By the use of the step graded-index separate-confinement heterostructure to reduce the waveguide loss, a low threshold current density of 319 A/cm/sup 2/ was measured on compressive-strained single-quantum-well broad-area lasers with a 27 mu oxide stripe width. >

Multiwavelength DFB laser array transmitters for ONTC reconfigurable optical network testbed

We discuss the design, fabrication, and performance of experimental multiwavelength laser array transmitters that have been used in the reconfigurable optical network testbed for the Optical Network Technology Consortium (ONTC). The experimental four-node multiwavelength network testbed is SONET/ATM compatible. It has employed multiwavelength DFB laser arrays with 4 nm wavelength spacing for the first time. The testbed has demonstrated that multiwavelength DFB laser arrays are indeed practical and reproducible. For the DFB laser arrays used in such a network the precise wavelength spacing in the array and the absolute wavelength control are the most challenging tasks. We have obtained wavelength accuracy better than /spl plusmn/0.35 nm for all lasers, with some registered to better than /spl plusmn/0.2 nm. We have also studied the array yield of our devices and used wavelength redundancy to improve the array yield. Coupling efficiencies between -2.1 to -4.5 dB for each wavelength channel have been obtained. It is achieved by using specially designed lensed fiber arrays placed on a silicon V-grooved substrate to exactly match the laser spacing. The transmitter consisted of a multichip module containing a DFB laser array, an eight-channel driver array based on GaAs ICs, and associated RF circuitry.

Long-wavelength strained-layer quantum-well lasers

We have studied the effect of strain on the laser threshold current density in the 1.3 and 1.55 micrometers wavelength regions using both GaInAsP/InP and AlGaInAs/InP material systems. Low threshold current densities have been obtained for both compressive- and tensile-strained quantum well lasers. We have also fabricated 20-wavelength distributed-feedback laser arrays using both compressive- and tensile-strained quantum well active layers. A wide optical gain spectrum and a sub-MHz linewidth have been demonstrated.

Monolithic multiwavelength lasers for WDM lightwave systems

We review the progress of multiwavelength DFB laser arrays made for multiwavelength optical networks. The goal is to reduce the per-wavelength transmitter cost in manufacturing and network element control. Using photonic integration, we have addressed and resolved several important issues related to laser arrays such as wavelength accuracy, output power and optical packaging. State of the art results are summarized and its impact on the multiwavelength optical network is assessed.