M.C. Larson

GaInNAs: a novel material for long-wavelength semiconductor lasers

GaInNAs was proposed and created in 1995 by the authors. It can be grown pseudomorphically on a GaAs substrate and is a light-emitting material having a bandgap energy suitable for long-wavelength laser diodes (1.3-1.55 /spl mu/m and longer wavelengths). By combining GaInNAs with GaAs or other wide-gap materials that can be grown on a GaAs substrate, a type-I band lineup is achieved and, thus, very deep quantum wells can be fabricated, especially in the conduction band. Since the electron overflow from the wells to the barrier layers at high temperatures can he suppressed, the novel material of GaInNAs is very attractive to overcome the poor temperature characteristics of conventional long-wavelength laser diodes used for optical fiber communication systems. GaInNAs with excellent crystallinity was grown by gas-source molecular beam epitaxy in which a nitrogen radical was used as the nitrogen source. GaInNAs was applied in both edge-emitting and vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) in the long-wavelength range. In edge-emitting laser diodes, operation under room temperature continuous-wave (CW) conditions with record high temperature performance (T/sub 0/=126 K) was achieved. The optical and physical parameters, such as quantum efficiency and gain constant, are also systematically investigated to confirm the applicability of GaInNAs to laser diodes for optical fiber communications. In a VCSEL, successful lasing action was obtained under room-temperature (RT) CW conditions by photopumping with a low threshold pump intensity and a lasing wavelength of 1.22 /spl mu/m.

Incorporation of nitrogen in nitride-arsenides: Origin of improved luminescence efficiency after anneal

A key to the utilization of nitride-arsenides for long wavelength optoelectronic devices is obtaining low defect materials with long nonradiative lifetimes. Currently, these materials must be annealed to obtain device quality material. The likely defect responsible for the low luminescence efficiency is associated with excess nitrogen. Photoluminescence and capacitance–voltage measurements indicate the presence of a trap associated with excess nitrogen which decreases in concentration upon anneal. Our films are grown by elemental source molecular beam epitaxy and the background impurity concentration is low, thus we have investigated the role of crystalline defects. High resolution x-ray diffraction showed improved crystal quality after anneal. We observed that the lattice parameter does not decrease linearly with nitrogen concentration for levels of nitrogen above 2.9 mol % GaN. The fact that Vegard’s law is not observed, despite theoretical calculations that it should, indicates that nitrogen incorporat...

1.3-μm continuous-wave lasing operation in GaInNAs quantum-well lasers

A 1.3-/spl mu/m continuous wave lasing operation is demonstrated, for the first time, in a GaInNAs quantum-well laser at room temperature. This lasing performance is achieved by increasing the nitrogen content (up to 1%) in GaInNAs quantum layer. It is thus confirmed that this type of laser is suitable for use as a light source for optical fiber communications.

Vertical coupled-cavity microinterferometer on GaAs with deformable-membrane top mirror

Fabry-Perot microinterferometer is demonstrated that combines a GaAs-AlAs vertical cavity with a suspended movable membrane. Electrostatic displacement of the gold/silicon nitride membrane allows for broad and continuous wavelength tuning of the cavity resonance formed by the combination of the GaAs cavity and the air gap below the membrane. The device exhibits a 32-nm tuning range around the 920-nm center wavelength for 0-14 V applied bias and FWHM linewidths near 3 nm; this corresponds to membrane deflections of up to 0.27 /spl mu/m. Such structures provide the foundation for wavelength selective photodiodes, light emitters, and lasers in which the active wavelength is under voltage control.<<ETX>>

Widely tunable electroabsorption-modulated sampled-grating DBR laser transmitter

We report on a widely tunable transmitter based on a sampled-grating distributed Bragg reflector (SG-DBR) laser monolithically integrated with a semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) and an electroabsorption (EA) modulator. Modulated time-averaged powers in excess of 5 dBm, RF extinction ratios >10 dB, and error-free transmission at 2.5 Gb/s for 350 km of standard single-mode fiber have been demonstrated across a 40-nm tuning range. In CW mode of operation, the module meets all long-haul system requirements for externally modulated laser sources: stability, power (>10 mW), RIN ( 100 yr for output wavelength stability and power across all channels.

Micromachined widely tunable vertical cavity laser diodes

Wavelength tunable vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) are potentially useful for future optical communications. Traditionally, the emission wavelength of a vertical cavity laser was tuned by modulating the active region temperature. However, thermal tuning is slow, and the realized tuning range is quite limited. Micromachined tunable VCSELs (Mi-T-VCSELs) combine the traditional vertical cavity laser structure with a monolithically micromachined deformable membrane, enabling continuous wavelength tuning without mode hopping. In addition to a large wavelength tuning range, this technique does not suffer from the shortcomings of the thermal tuning technique. This paper presents the background theory, processing sequence, and experimental results for Mi-T-VCSELs.

Less than 5-ns wavelength switching with an SG-DBR laser

We achieve fast wavelength switching between all channel combinations of a 64-channel sampled-grating distributed Bragg reflector laser in less than 5 ns. The laser was designed to have low tuning currents and efficient heat extraction in order to reduce parasitic thermal effects. We also report on the behavior of the front and back mirror pre-emphasis amplitudes required for the fast switching

Low threshold continuously tunable vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers with 19.1 nm wavelength range

Continuous wavelength tuning of 19.1 nm is reported for vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers. Stress-matched dielectric mirror stacks are added to the micromachined deformable-membrane top mirror to enhance reflectance, resulting in devices with 6.5% quantum efficiency and threshold current as low as 0.34 mA. The laser operates in single mode near 968 nm with 24 dB mode suppression ratio and tuning voltages are below 18 V.

Broadly-tunable resonant-cavity light-emitting diode

Microelectromechanical wavelength tuning is demonstrated for the first time in a resonant-cavity light-emitting diode. The device utilizes a deformable-membrane top mirror suspended by an air gap above a diode-active region and bottom mirror. Applied membrane-substrate bias produces an electrostatic force which reduces the air-gap thickness, and therefore, the resonant wavelength. We report broad tunability of nearly 40 nm and spectral linewidths as narrow as 1.9 nm (2.6 meV) for operation near 950 nm.<<ETX>>

Simultaneous optimization of membrane reflectance and tuning voltage for tunable vertical cavity lasers

Micromachined wavelength tunable vertical cavity lasers are attractive for applications ranging from wavelength division multiplexing to spectroscopy. An improved tunable structure that incorporates a partial anti-reflection coating to increase coupling between the air gap and the semiconductor cavity, and a more flexible micromachine process that enables independent optimization of the central reflector region and deformable membrane structure are described. This combination of structural and process modifications enables decoupling the tradeoffs between wavelength tuning rate and threshold current, as well as the tradeoffs between top mirror reflectance and tuning voltage. With these improved approaches, a 2.5 pair dielectric distributed Bragg reflector hybrid membrane top mirror produced singlemode devices with a 23 nm wavelength tuning range and multi-transverse-mode devices with a 30 nm wavelength tuning range. Threshold current, differential quantum efficiency, and lasing mode are characterized as a...