Control of widely tunable SSG-DBR lasers for dense wavelength division multiplexing

Abstract

Abstract-This paper presents a general discussion on the control of widely tunable super structure grating distributed Bragg reflector (SSG-DBR) lasers. A feedback control scheme is presented that ensures frequency stability and accuracy (better than 0.5 GHz), as well as high side mode suppression ratio ( 35 dB). The active section voltage is monitored to maintain mode stability and a highly stable Fabry-Perot etalon is used as a reference to lock the laser frequency to a specific ITU channel. It is shown that stability can even be maintained when directly modulating the laser at 1.244 Gb/s. Furthermore, a characterization scheme is demonstrated that uses the voltage monitoring to generate a look-up table of operation points very efficiently and accurately. For all operation points, the frequency accuracy is better than 0 5 GHz and the side mode suppression ratio is above 35 dB.Index Terms-Distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) lasers, laser stability, laser tuning, semiconductor lasers, wavelength division multiplexing (WDM).

Microwave signal generation using self-heterodyning of a fast wavelength switching SG-DBR laser

“…EXPERIMENT Fig. 1 shows a top view of the SG-DBR laser diode chip used in this experiment [1,2]. This laser chip has five segments requiring separate current biases.…”

“…Tunable diode lasers are currently the focus of much attention in the telecommunications industry, as they are expected to become essential components for the next generation of dense wavelength division multiplexing systems [1]. Sampled-grating Distributed Bragg Reflector (SG-DBR) single-chip tunable lasers are a recent component used in DWDM systems.…”

BER performance in wavelength packet-switched WDM systems during nano-second wavelength switching events

“…Typical examples of such devices are grating-assisted co-directional coupler with sampling grating reflector (GCSR) lasers [3,8], the Sample Grating distributed Bragg reflector structure [9] and super structure grating distributed Bragg reflector (SSG-DBR) lasers [10][11][12]. These devices can achieve tuning ranges in excess of 60 nm, SMSR's exceeding 40 dB, output powers above 10 dBm, and switching times in the order or 20-50 ns.…”

Analysis on steady-state characteristics of widely tunable SG-DBR laser with residual facet reflectivity model

“…Especially, monolithic tunable lasers could cover wavelength ranges of several tens of nanometers by using sophisticated Vernier-effect tuning [1][2][3][4]. Because sampled grating (SG) reflectors create comblike reflection spectra, only a little current tuning is needed to obtain comparatively large wavelength jumps.…”