ABSTRACT
Array-type optical devices are important for wavelength-division multiplexing optical communication system to achieve small footprint, mass production, and reliability. For fabricating transmitter module in an array configuration, it is difficult to achieve a passive alignment of isolator, collimating lens, and laser diode. To facilitate array isolator integration, a waveguide collimator is proposed in this work by using a low-contrast, large-core polymer waveguide. The diffraction of a guided mode propagating through a free-space region is suppressed by enlarging the guided mode. The fiber coupling loss due to the enlarged mode was overcome by incorporating an adiabatic taper structure. The excess loss of waveguide collimator including the loss through a 400-µm free-propagation region was less than 1.0 dB.
ABSTRACT
Highly integrated optical components are strongly demanded because they enable wavelength-division multiplexing optical communication systems to achieve smaller footprints, lower power consumption, and enhanced reliability. Variable optical attenuator (VOA) arrays are often used with optical switches in cascaded form for reconfigurable optical add-drop multiplexer systems. Although VOAs and optical switches based on polymer waveguide technology are commercially available, it is still not viable to integrate these two array devices on a single chip because of significant interchannel crosstalk. In this work, we resolved the issue of crosstalk and integrated the arrays of optical switch and VOA on a single chip by incorporating a self-assembled scattering monolayer (SASM). The SASM was effective for scattering the planar guided mode; consequently, the crosstalk into an adjacent channel was significantly reduced, to less than -35 dB.
ABSTRACT
We report a 1.58 µm superluminescent diode (SLD) with a spot-size converter (SSC) designed and fabricated as a light source for a tunable external cavity laser (T-ECL). The active section of the SLD is fabricated by using a planar buried heterostructure (PBH) for low-threshold current and high-output power operation at a low injection current. The SSC structure of the SLD is designed to possess a buried deep-ridge waveguide (BD-RWG) and show a beam of less divergence. The full-width at half maximum (FWHM) of the horizontal and vertical far-field patterns (FFPs), due to the beam of the less divergence, are 14° and 13°, respectively. We also confirm that an L-band T-ECL employing the SSC SLD operates well enough to prove the characteristics of high performance.
ABSTRACT
A flexible polymeric Bragg reflector is fabricated for the purpose of demonstrating widely tunable lasers with a compact simple structure. The external feedback of the Bragg reflected light into a superluminescent laser diode produces the lasing of a certain resonance wavelength. The highly elastic polymer device enables the direct tuning of the Bragg wavelength by controlling the imposed strain and provides a much wider tuning range than silica fiber Bragg gratings or thermo-optic tuned polymer devices. Both compressive and tensile strains are applied within the range from -36000 microepsilon to 35000 microepsilon, so as to accomplish the continuous tuning of the Bragg reflection wavelength over a range of up to 100 nm. The external feedback laser with the tunable Bragg reflector exhibits a repetitive wavelength tuning range of 80 nm with a side mode suppression ratio of 35 dB.
ABSTRACT
We presented a hybridly-integrated tunable external cavity laser with 0.8 nm mode spacing 16 channels operating in the direct modulation of 2.5-Gbps for a low-cost source of a WDM-PON system. The tunable laser was fabricated by using a superluminescent diode (SLD) and a polymer Bragg reflector. The maximum output power and the power slope efficiency of the tunable laser were 10.3 mW and 0.132 mW/mA, respectively, at the SLD current of 100 mA and the temperature of 25 degrees C. The directly-modulated tunable laser successfully provided 2.5-Gbps transmissions through 20-km standard single mode fiber. The power penalty of the tunable laser was less than 0.8 dB for 16 channels after a 20-km transmission. The power penalty variation was less than 1.4 dB during the blue-shifted wavelength tuning.
Subject(s)
Lasers, Semiconductor , Lenses , Luminescent Measurements/instrumentation , Polymers , Refractometry/instrumentation , Equipment Design , Equipment Failure Analysis , Systems IntegrationABSTRACT
We have fabricated a tunable external cavity laser (T-ECL) based on a superluminescent diode and a polymeric waveguide Bragg reflector, providing a cost-effective solution for wavelength division multiplexing-passive optical network (WDM-PON) systems. The wavelength of the T-ECL is tuned through 100 GHz-spacing 16 channels by the thermo-optic tuning of the refractive index of the polymer waveguide at a low input power of 70 mW. The maximum output power and the slope efficiency of the uncooled diode at 20 (75) degrees C are 8.83 (3.80) mW and 0.107 (0.061) W/A, respectively. The T-ECL operated successfully in the direct modulation for 1.25 Gbit/s transmissions over 20 km.
Subject(s)
Lasers, Semiconductor , Lighting/instrumentation , Luminescent Measurements/instrumentation , Computer-Aided Design , Equipment Design , Equipment Failure Analysis , Reproducibility of Results , Sensitivity and Specificity , TemperatureABSTRACT
Based on the thermo-optic tuning of a polymer waveguide Bragg reflector, we demonstrated a cost-effective tunable wavelength laser for WDM optical communications. The excellent thermo-optic effect of the polymer waveguide enabled direct tuning of the Bragg reflection wavelength by controlling the electrical power on a micro-heater. Wavelength tuning for 32 channels with 0.8 nm wavelength spacing was demonstrated as well as a continuous tuning with wavelength steps of 0.1 nm. To be qualified as a tunable laser for WDM-PON applications, wavelength stability within 0.15 nm was confirmed for an operating temperature range from -10 to 70 degrees C.