Q-switched operation of a coupled-resonator vertical-cavity laser diode

Journal Article · Mon Apr 10 00:00:00 EDT 2000 · Applied Physics Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.126227· OSTI ID:20215793

Fischer, A J ^[1]; Chow, W W ^[1]; Choquette, K D ^[1]; Allerman, A A ^[1]; Geib, K M ^[1]

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1. Center for Compound Semiconductor Science and Technology, Sandia National Labs, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87185 (United States)

We report Q-switched operation from an electrically injected monolithic coupled-resonator structure which consists of an active cavity with InGaAs quantum wells optically coupled to a passive cavity. The passive cavity contains a bulk GaAs region which is reverse biased to provide variable absorption at the lasing wavelength of 990 nm. Cavity coupling is utilized to effect large changes in output intensity with only very small changes in passive cavity absorption. The device is shown to produce pulses as short as 150 ps at repetition rates as high as 4 GHz. A rate equation approach is used to model the Q-switched operation yielding good agreement between the experimental and theoretical pulse shape. Small-signal frequency response measurements also show a transition from a slower ({approx}300 MHz) forward-biased modulation regime to a faster ({approx}2 GHz) modulation regime under reverse-bias operation. (c) 2000 American Institute of Physics.

• OSTI ID: 20215793
• Journal Information: Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 76, Issue 15; Other Information: PBD: 10 Apr 2000; ISSN 0003-6951
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

42 ENGINEERING
SEMICONDUCTOR LASERS
SEMICONDUCTOR DIODES
GALLIUM ARSENIDES
Q-SWITCHING
OPERATION
EXPERIMENTAL DATA