Fast Wavelength Switching of a Dual-Contact Two-Color Semiconductor Laser With Current Modulation

Wavelength switching performance of single- and dual-contact two-mode semiconductor lasers with current modulation

“…Using a logarithmic gain function we reproduce the experimental results with very good agreement between experiment and simulation. Our experimental and modeling results show that our experimental results demonstrating 30 dB intensity contrast with 2 ns switching time of [12] are close to the optimal switching performance for these devices.…”

“…The extra degree of freedom for modulating the pump current can lead to a reduction of the amplitude of the modulated pump current required for switching the wavelengths of the primary modes. This reduction can also lead to a smaller frequency chirp and to a shorter switching time [12].…”

“…In section 4 we characterize the wavelength switching performance of a dual-contact two-mode device, extending the work presented in [12]. For this device we present pulsed measurements of the modal intensities as functions of the pump currents in order to minimize thermal effects.…”

“…The tunability of these devices is limited to a smaller number of modes, but less cost and complexity can be achieved with respect to alternative solutions [10,11]. Among these devices a dual-contact twomode semiconductor laser has recently been characterized with high-performance switching between two wavelengths [12]. Although switching between two wavelengths represents the smallest degree of tunability that can be considered, these devices are ideal components for the implementation of optical packet switching based on WDM clockwork routing in large-scale high-performance computing systems [13].…”

Fundamental aspects of closed optical mode formation in Fabry–Perot semiconductor lasers based on AlGaAs/GaAs (905 nm) asymmetric heterostructures

“…Controlling the intracavity mode structures in semiconductor lasers is important for development of new types of optical pulse generators [1][2][3], fully optical elements for integrated optical systems [4][5][6][7][8][9][10], and high power semiconductor lasers [11,12]. The longitudinal mode tuning in single-and multimode Fabry-Perot semiconductor lasers has been well studied and it has been shown that this effect is associated with changes in refractive index profiles in longitudinal waveguides, caused by the injection current and local heating [13][14][15][16][17].…”