Widely frequency-tunable amplified feedback lasers for 10-GHz optical pulsation

Abstract

Monolithic amplified feedback semiconductor lasers are demonstrated as a new solution to 10-GHz optical pulsation, where self-pulsations are generated according to the concept of a single-mode laser with shortly delayed optical feedback. They consist of a loss-coupled distributed feedback section operating as a single-mode laser and an integrated feedback cavity including a phase control, an amplifier, and a transparency section. The pulsation frequency is continuously tunable in the range of 7-11.5 GHz with an extinction ratio above 6.5 dB, which indicates that precise control of a cavity length is not needed.