Highly attenuating external cavity for picosecond-tunable pulse generation from gain/Q-switched laser diodes

• Published in: IEEE journal of quantum electronics Vol. 29; no. 6; pp. 1693 - 1700
• Main Authors: Bouchoule, S., Stelmakh, N., Cavelier, M., Lourtioz, J.-M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, NY IEEE 01.06.1993; Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
• Subjects: Chirp; Diode lasers; Exact sciences and technology; Fabry-Perot; Fundamental areas of phenomenology (including applications); Laser feedback; Laser mode locking; Laser optical systems: design and operation; Lasers; Optical coupling; Optical pulses; Optics; Physics; Pulse compression methods; Q-switching; Semiconductor lasers; laser diodes; Space vector pulse width modulation; Tunable circuits and devices; Pulse generation; Q-switching; Mode selection; Feedback; Tunable lasers; Gain switching; Experimental study; Laser diodes; ps range; Coupled cavity laser
• ISSN: 0018-9197; 1558-1713
• DOI: 10.1109/3.234423

The authors analyze in detail the behavior of gain/Q-switched Fabry-Perot laser diodes coupled to a highly attenuating, selective external cavity. Radical differences are shown as compared to the case of strong external feedback used in mode locking. A strong analogy with the case of pulsed lasers with a small quasi-monochromatic injection signal is indicated. Strong chirping is observed in single-mode emission, leading to tunable picosecond pulses after compression. Experiments are carried out on two types of devices. Picosecond pulses with very high tunability (40 nm) and repetition rates (>10 GHz) are obtained from 1.3- mu m gain-switched laser diodes, the minimum pulsewidth being 2.5 ps.< >