Santur Corporation

Ed Vail

Bardia Pezeshki

John F Heanue

Gideon W Yoffe

Mark Emanuel

A semiconductor laser capable of emitting in any one of standard communication wavelengths is of great practical value. To this end, a single semiconductor chip is fabricated on which many different distributed feedback (DFB) lasers are integrated. The device parameters of the different DFB lasers are varied such that each laser emits at a different wavelength. In addition a micro-mechanical optical element is packaged with the laser array, such that the position of the optical element controls which laser stripe is coupled to the output fiber. The micro-mechanical element or switch in various embodiments is a sliding waveguide, a movable lens, or a mirror that tilts. By selecting the particular DFB laser, controlling the temperature to fine tune the wavelength, and adjusting the position of the micro-mechanical optical element, the output wavelength is set to one of many communication wavelengths.

Tunable controlled laser array

An optical communication system for transmitting multiple optical beams, each at a different wavelength is disclosed. The optical communication system includes a laser array having multiple laser transmitters transmitting multiple optical beams, each at a different wavelength. The optical communication system further includes a diffraction grating optically coupled to the laser array, the diffraction grating diffracting each of the optical beams at a substantially equal diffraction angle to form a combined optical beam. The combined beam is then focused into an optical communication media.

Laser and laser signal combiner

A multi-wavelength laser array where each element can be individually heated for fine tuning. The wavelength of the array can be coarsely tuned by selecting one laser of a particular wavelength for the array, and then applying a heating current to fine-tune the wavelength. The lasers can be phase shifted DFBs for high single-mode yield. The heating can be performed monolithic to the device by passing current longitudinally through the p-type stripe, while the injection current passes vertically through the stripe. Alternatively an adjacent laser to the one selected can be activated, though not fiber coupled, such that the thermal load is sufficient to tune the selected laser. Thin film heaters placed on top or adjacent to the cavity can also be used. To minimize continuous power consumption, the on-chip heater can be used initially to tune the laser while the TE cooler responds on a slower time scale.

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Fremont, CA, United States of America

Ed Vail