Stable and widely tunable dual-wavelength continuous-wave operation of a semiconductor laser in a novel Fabry-Perot grating-lens external cavity

• Published in: IEEE journal of quantum electronics Vol. 33; no. 10; pp. 1832 - 1838
• Main Authors: LEE, K.-S, SHU, C
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, NY IEEE 01.10.1997; Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
• Subjects: Arrayed waveguide gratings; Exact sciences and technology; Fundamental areas of phenomenology (including applications); Laser stability; Laser tuning; Lasers; Optical feedback; Optical filters; Optical resonators; Optical sensors; Optics; Physics; Semiconductor laser arrays; Semiconductor lasers; Semiconductor lasers; laser diodes; Tunable circuits and devices; Gallium arsenides; Laser feedback; Theoretical study; External cavity; Experimental study; Indium arsenides; Gallium phosphides; Fabry-Perot resonators; Semiconductor lasers; Indium phosphides; Tunable lasers; Infrared radiation; CW lasers; Quaternary compounds
• ISSN: 0018-9197; 1558-1713
• DOI: 10.1109/3.631289

We propose and experimentally demonstrate an external-cavity configuration for a 1.5-/spl mu/m InGaAsP semiconductor laser to generate tunable dual-wavelength optical output over a wavelength range of 60.8 nm. The Fabry-Perot (FP) grating-lens external cavity consists of a FP filter, a diffraction grating, a converging lens, and a totally reflecting mirror. The dual wavelength CW output has a spectral separation of 0.9 nm and a side-mode-suppression ratio of over 25 dB throughout the tuning range. The relative intensity variation between the two lasing wavelengths is smaller than 1.2 dB without any observable mode hopping.