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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/19117
Description
Title
Single frequency semiconductor lasers
Author(s)
Smith, Gary Michael
Issue Date
1996
Doctoral Committee Chair(s)
Coleman, James J.
Department of Study
Electrical and Computer Engineering
Discipline
Electrical Engineering
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Degree Level
Dissertation
Keyword(s)
Engineering, Electronics and Electrical
Physics, Optics
Engineering, Materials Science
Language
eng
Abstract
Single frequency semiconductor lasers are of interest for communication systems and spectroscopy. In communications, narrow linewidth is desirable to minimize dispersion effects and low cross-talk multiple wavelength channels on a single fiber. For GaAs-based lasers, the interest in narrow linewidth sources comes from the spectroscopy community that desires a light source that can be tuned to very narrow absorption spectra of various materials. For both of these applications, narrow linewidth, wavelength tunable semiconductor lasers are well-suited.
This thesis describes the development of a single epitaxial growth ridge waveguide distributed Bragg reflector (RW-DBR) laser. These lasers exhibit low thresholds, fairly high slope efficiencies, and single frequency operation with very narrow linewidth. The fabrication requires only a single epitaxial growth of a standard laser structure and then an anisotropic etch to transfer a grating pattern from the top surface of the laser into the epitaxial layers. The initial RW-DBR lasers fabricated by this method had symmetric cladding layers with a thickness of 1.2 $\mu$m, which required etch depths of over 1 $\mu$m in order to couple adequately to the optical mode. This required a highly anisotropic etch and limited the device design to third-order gratings. However, fairly good device performance was demonstrated with these symmetric cladding RW-DBR lasers.
To relax the constraints on the grating etch, an asymmetric cladding separate confinement heterostructure (AC-SCH) laser was developed. The AC-SCH design reduces the thickness of the top cladding layer, which results in shallower depths for the grating etch and allows the fabrication of more efficient second-order DBR gratings. The incorporation of the AC-SCH into the RW-DBR laser reduces the threshold current, increases the efficiency, and decreases the spectral linewidth.
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