Pump Laser Diode with Improved Wavelength Stability
This invention relates generally to Laser Diodes and more particularly to Pump Laser Diodes offering improved wavelength stability through use of Fabry-Perot cavity and Fiber Bragg Gratings.
Laser diodes, which are used as pumps at an operating wavelength of approximately 980nm in erbium-doped fiber amplifiers, are stabilized around this wavelength for efficient pumping. However, the emission wavelength of the laser with a conventional Fabry-Perot cavity formed by laser facets tends to change with the temperature of the laser. The temperature change can be environmental and/or induced by the Joule heating of the diode at increased forward currents.
According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a semiconductor laser diode, comprising: a waveguide having a front coated laser facet and a back reflective coated laser facet which together form a Fabry-Perot cavity, wherein the back reflective coated laser facet provides greater reflectivity at a predetermined wavelength than at wavelengths which are greater than the predetermined wavelength for providing improved stability at higher operating temperatures.
The pump laser diode may include a Fabry-Perot cavity formed by laser facets and Fiber Bragg Gratings (FBG) in a pump module. The mirror optical losses at the facets may be made to increase for wavelengths longer than the required emission wavelength, thus permitting the diode to be locked to the emission wavelength while operating at higher temperatures
In a further aspect of the invention, a stack of materials with different refractive indices is deposited on the back facet of the laser diode.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a semiconductor laser diode, comprising: a waveguide having a front coated laser facet and a back reflective coated laser facet which together form a Fabry-Perot cavity, said back reflective coated laser facet having a mirror optical loss associated with it, wherein said mirror optical loss is increased for wavelengths longer than a predetermined emission wavelength.
The invention also provides a semiconductor laser diode that is stabilized at a predetermined emission wavelength, comprising: a waveguide having a front coated laser facet and a back reflective coated laser facet which together form a Fabry-Perot cavity, said back reflective coated laser facet having a mirror optical loss associated with it, wherein said mirror optical loss is increased at a wavelength that is not the emission wavelength.
Other aspects and features of the present invention will become apparent to those ordinarily skilled in the art upon review of the following description of specific embodiments of the invention in conjunction with the accompanying figures.
In order that the invention may be more fully understood, preferred embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
Figure 1 is a graph illustrating the temperature-dependent gain spectra at threshold for a Fabry-Perot pump laser diode;
Figure 2 is a graph illustrating the temperature-dependent gain spectra for a Fabry-Perot laser with Fiber Bragg Grating (FBG) feedback;
Figure 3 is a graph illustrating a temperature-dependent gain spectra for a laser with FBG feedback and a modified loss curve;
Figure 4 is a graph of a typical back facet reflectivity curve;
Figure 5 is a graph of a wavelength-shifted reflectivity of a nine-layer Si/Si02 stack; and
Figure 6 is a diagram illustrating a semiconductor laser diode having a Fabry- Perot cavity formed by coated laser facets according to the present invention.
Figure 1 is a chart illustrating the temperature-dependent gain spectra at threshold for a conventional Pump Laser Diode module. In general, this chart illustrates that a) the laser threshold is reached when the gain of the laser reaches the loss value, b) the magnitude of the gain for a given current is a function of the wavelength, and c) as temperature increases, the gain spectrum broadens and the maximum of the gain spectrum shifts to longer wavelengths. As an example, in Figure 1, the spectrum of the gain curve 10 for temperature TI is narrower than the spectrum of gain curve 11 at temperature T5.
Along with the gain maximum shifting to longer wavelengths with increasing temperature, the emission wavelength increases with increasing temperature. The magnitude of this shift for a temperature range of 0°C - 75°C could be as high as 40nm. This is not desirable for the pump laser diodes.
To stabilize the laser diode emission at a given wavelength, say 980nm, a fiber Bragg grating (FBG) is used in the pump modules. In these modules part of the light launched from the pump module into the output fiber reflects back from the FBG into the laser. In a 980nm FBG pump laser, since FBG is reflective in only a very narrow wavelength range around 980nm, this reflection selectively decreases the laser output loss at this wavelength. This is schematically illustrated in Figure 2, which shows the threshold gain spectra for the laser with FBG.
With the use of the FBG, the loss curve 20 is no longer a straight line. Instead, it has a narrow dip at the 980nm wavelength of FBG. As a result, the gain curves 21, 22
that the emission wavelength of the laser is equal to 980nm for each of these 3 wavelengths. In other words, the laser is locked to 980nm in a particular temperature range. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the same principle is applicable to various emission wavelength regimes and semiconductor laser diode materials, i.e. InGaAsP, GaN, etc.
However, even with the use of FBG, the characteristics are more like those of Figure 1 for curves 24 and 25, which correspond to higher temperatures. The gain spectra at these higher temperatures has shifted from the FBG wavelength towards longer wavelengths that touch the flat portion of the loss curve as in Figure 1. As a result, the emission wavelength, for a wavelength above the required FBG- wavelength (e.g. 980nm), is at the gain maximum, just as in the chart of Figure 1. Accordingly, the laser "unlocks" from the FBG wavelength at these higher temperatures. This poses a problem when using an uncooled pump module operating in a wide temperature range.
The present invention changes the operating range of a pump diode laser. In a preferred embodiment, an FBG is employed to provide an initial locking range and then the loss level of the pump laser is increased for longer wavelengths (e.g. higher temperatures). This is illustrated in the chart of Figure 3.
In Figure 3, spectra curves for a laser with FBG are shown with a modified loss curve 30. In this arrangement, the loss level 30 is made to increase for wavelengths longer than the required emission wavelength, e.g. 980nm in the present embodiment. This provides an opportunity to pump the diode harder at higher temperatures to get enough gain for lasing at the FBG wavelength and still be below the loss level 30 even when the gain curve reaches its maximum. Thus the laser diode can be locked to FBG wavelength in a wider temperature range.
Modification of the loss level 30 can be achieved as follows. It is known that the loss in laser diode (a) is in general the sum of internal loss and mirror loss. This is described as:
A = ai + am = ai + (l/2L)ln(l/RlR2)
wherein
a; is the internal loss am is the mirror loss
L is cavity length
Rl is the reflectivity of the front mirror 62 (Figure 6) and
R2 is the reflectivity of back mirror 65 (Figure 6).
Internal loss a; is mostly determined by free carrier absorption. It is relatively wavelength independent in the required spectral range. However, the mirror reflectivity can drastically depend on the wavelength. Consider the reflectivity R2 of the back mirror 65 in Figure 6. The back mirror 65 in a typical pump laser device can have a reflectivity R2 of approximately 0.9 - 0.98. To achieve this reflectivity a quarter- wavelength stack of materials 67 with different refractive indices is deposited on the back facet 65 of the laser. An example of reflectivity spectrum for a seven-layer quarter-wavelength stack with design wavelength at 980nm is presented in Figure 4.
In Figure 4, the change of reflectivity is minimal at 980nm ± 20nm. This means that the loss level in this interval is practically wavelength-independent. But those skilled in the art will recognize that the transition from high to low reflectivity on this reflectivity curve is very steep both on the short and long wavelength shoulders of the curve. Thus, if these regions of steep reflectivity change fall to the spectral interval of interest, increasing losses for undesirable wavelengths is achieved. As an example, Figure 5 shows the reflectivity spectrum of a nine-layer Si/Si02 stack in the wavelength region 940nm - 1020nm. In this, mirror reflectivity drops to zero over a 20nm wavelength span (i.e. from 980nm to lOOOnm). This leads to a significant increase in the loss value for longer wavelengths of the required gain spectra. This loss increase suppresses unlocking of the FBG-coupled laser in a higher temperature range.
In an alternate embodiment of the invention, the laser could be employed without the use of the FBG but with the mirror of Figure 5. Thus, while the laser would not necessarily be locked to a particular wavelength, it would only operate at wavelengths below a particular wavelength.
Figure 6 illustrates a block diagram of a laser diode having a Fabry-Perot cavity formed by coated laser facets according to the present invention. The waveguide 61 of the laser diode is provided with a front facet coating 62 adapted to receive light via an optical fiber coupler 63. Wavelength stabilisation is provided by means of a Fiber- Bragg grating 64. The waveguide 61 also includes a reflective back facet laser coating 65 formed from a dielectric mirror stack 67. The dielectric mirror stack 67 provides additional wavelength stabilization by modifying the reflectivity of the back facet, such that the back facet 65 offers a high reflectivity at the FBG operating wavelength and low reflectivity at wavelengths longer than the FBG-stabilized emission wavelength.
It will be recognized by those skilled in the art that other materials or materials with modified properties can be used for desired reflectivity modification at various wavelengths. In addition, with low front facet reflectivities, a slight decrease of back facet reflectivity, here at 980nm, does not bring noticeable decrease in the power emitted from the front facet.
Spectral reflectivity of the front mirror can also be tailored to introduce additional loss at wavelengths other than 980nm. For example, W-coating where reflectivity decreases on both sides of a desired wavelength, can be used. The tailoring of the front facet reflectivity can be also used to suppress emission at shorter wavelengths (lower temperatures). Again, the design principle is not restricted to InGaAs/GaAs based laser diodes emitting at around 980nm. The sample principle can also be used to improve laser diode wavelength stabilization from an external mirror at various wavelengths, e.g. 1480nm or 1550nm, etc.
A solution also lies in control of spectral gain in the quantum well laser. The use of an active media where gain maximum does not shift with temperature as fast as it
shifts in a present quantum well can for example be proposed. Alternatively the gain spectra can be so spectrally wide that there will not be too much difference in gain between maximum and the design wavelength.