S.M. Riecke¹, H. Wenzel², S. Schwertfeger², K. Lauritsen¹, K. Paschke², R. Erdmann¹, and G. Erbert²

Published in:

IEEE J. Quantum Electron., vol. 47, no. 5, pp. 715-722 (2011).

Abstract:

We study the generation of picosecond pulses by gain-switching of distributed feedback ridge-waveguide laser diodes. By pumping with short current pulses without d.c. bias, we obtain laser pulses with peak powers above 1W at a wavelength around 1065nm. These pulses exhibit strong spectral dynamics stemming from mode competition after switch-on. Typically, emission begins with a broad spectrum, before narrowing down to the Bragg line within a few hundred picoseconds. This dynamic behavior is studied in detail both experimentally and numerically for a variety of grating parameters. Using a rateequation model with two species of photons, we achieve excellent agreement between simulation and experiment. In conclusion, we discuss the optimization of DFB laser diodes for short pulse generation.

Index Terms:

Bragg gratings, optical pulses, semiconductor lasers.

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