Semiconductor laser with a superbroadband or multiline spectral output

Abstract

A superbroadband or multiwavelength laser transmitter source for wavelength-division multiplexing, two-wavelength interferometry, differential lidar and optical storage applications. Contrary to conventional tunable laser sources that can switch between different lasing wavelengths in a given wavelength band, the superbroadband laser simultaneously emits at multiple wavelengths. The basic idea of this system is to maintain simultaneous lasing operation in an optical active gain medium at different wavelengths. The system uses a novel dispersive cavity. By designing this cavity structure appropriately, the system creates its own microcavities each lasing at a different wavelength within the fluorescence band of the gain medium. Mode competition in the proposed cavity is absent and spectral range of simultaneous multi-frequency generation is considerably enhanced practically to the spectral width of the active media luminescence spectrum. As a result, the radiation of each mode with its own wavelength is amplified in the active media independently from the simultaneous amplification of the rest of the wavelengths.