Distributed Feedback Lasers

Overview
Mike Huang
EE 290F
February 17, 2004 [Tuesday]
Semiconductor Lasers


I (pump current)
Add mirrors to
provide optical
feedback
Add optical
guiding to
improve
efficiency
Optical Cavity (plane waves) [1]
( )
( )

t
= o
o +

= = o
nd
R R
R
I
I
T
inc
trans
2
sin 4 1
1
) (
2 2
2
Transmission of the optical cavity
Transmission as
function of the
electrical length
for different
reflectivities (R)
[1].
Maximum transmission for o = qt
Cavity with gain: R G().R
Threshold Condition
Solve for gain
(a) gain profile [3].
(b) intensity spectrum [3].
( ) ( )
1 . . . >
v v
R e R e
d d
( )
|
.
|

\
|
> v
2
1
ln
2
1
R
d
Single Longitudinal Mode Oscillation
Shorter cavity [VCSEL]
increase mode spacing
wider spectral width
Injection of external light
careful tuning
External coupled cavity
mechanical vibration, temperature and pressure changes
Diffraction grating inside the laser structure [DFB]

Laser Spectra
>100
~3
v v
v v
Gain
Free Spectral Range
DFB and DBR lasers [3]
DFB DBR
HR coating
AR coating
Cross section of DFB Lasers
Laser output direction


Edge-Emitting Lasers:
Fabry-Perot (FP) Lasers
DFB (distributed feedback)
Lasers
Vertical Cavity Surface
Emitting Lasers
(VCSEL)
Typical dimesion:
2 um x 500 um 5 um x 5 um
Periodic Structure with Gain
Incident and reflected intensities inside the
corrugated section with gain [2]
Solving for DFB Lasers

Oscillation Condition
( )
( ) ( ) SL S SL i
Se
E
L E
L i
i
i
cosh sinh 0
0
| A

=
|
( )
2 2
2
| A + k = i S
( )
( )
1
2
=
| A +
| A
SL
e
i S
i S
Reflection gain contour in the A|L - L plane [2]
Regular DFB Laser [2]
/4-Shifted DFB Laser [2]
Gain-Coupled DFB Laser
plug-in coupled mode equations with:
0 0
0
2
0
2
2
1
c e =

t
=
|
|
.
|

\
|
+ c = c
k
n k
i n
Complex c:
z z
z n n z n

t
+ =

t
+ =
2
cos ) (
2
cos ) (
1 0
1 0
2
1 1

+

t
= k i
n
Index- x Gain(Loss)-Coupled DFBs [2]
Index-coupled DFB lasers
have two degenerate (longitudinal) modes
Mode selection is based on facet phase very tricky and
unreproducible
Gain- or loss- coupled DFB
Single wavelength
More difficult to fabricate
Fabrication (grating structure in DFB)
Grating dimension ~ /4n ~ 100nm (for ~1.55m)
Electron-beam lithography (EUV, X-ray, ion-beam, )
Interference of two UV lights.

UV sensitive PR
Dicing (edge-emitting-lasers)


Substrate is thinned down (~100m) before cleaving.
To create reflection mirrors on two sides of the cavity.
After cleaving, protective coating is deposited on both
facets to improve lifetime (mainly degraded by COD).
Notes on Fabrication
Smoothness of the gratings depends strongly on crystal
orientation.
Holographic photolithography or e-beam lithography are used to
define the grating mask.
Wet etch is used to etch the gratings. Dry etch may cause
defects on the structure that propagate during the overgrowth.
V-groove preferable to rectangular (grating quality).
Growth rate depends strongly on the crystallographic orientation.
Orientation of the growth depends on temperature.
Epitaxial overgrowth is more complicated on the GaAs material
system than in InP (oxidation).
Grating Alignment [8]
For growing into direction, grating must be
aligned along the direction.
Generally, the dominant growth inside a v-groove is
along the [111] plane.
| | 1 1 0
| | 100
Surface Mass Transport (SMT) [8]
Generation of [100] facets at the bottom of the
grooves due to diffusion of surface atoms.
This process may eliminate the [111] facet.
Wet-etched grating [8]
Wavy grating lines, nonflat side-walls and linkages
between grooves can be caused by undefined mask
boarder or misalignment with respect to the crystal
orientation.
Commercial DFB

Parameters
Symbo
l
Min Typ Max Unit

CW Output power(25C) Pf 10 --- 30 mW

Threshold current It h -- 25 60 mA

Operating current If -- 300 -- mA

Forward voltage Vf -- 2.0 3.0 V

Center Wavelength c 1540 1550 1570 nm

Linewidth -- 2 -- MHz

Monitor Current Im -- 200 -- A

Monitor dark current(Vr=-
5V)
Id -- -- 100 nA

Isolation(Optional) Iso -30 -- -- dB

TEC current ITEC -- 1.2 -- A

TEC voltage VTEC -- 3.2 -- V

Thermistor resistance(at
25)
Rt h 9.5 10 10.5 k

Operating Temperature
Range
To -20 -- 65 C

Storage temperature Tst g -40 -- 85 C
Components
DFB diode
Thermoelectric cooler
Thermistor
Photodiode
Optical isolator
Fiber-coupled lens

Conclusion
Overview of basic laser and DFB principles.
Fabrication process depends on the growing method.
Most critical step: grating.
Transmitter used in most (all) long-haul WDM/DWDM
systems.
Tunable DFBs Forrest
References
[1] Verdeyen, J.T. - Laser Electronics, 3rd Ed., Prentice Hall, USA, 1995.
[2] Yariv, A. - Optical Electronics in Modern Communications, 5th Ed., Oxford Un.
Press, New York, 1997.
[3] Ghafouri-Shiraz, H. and Lo, B.S.K. - Distributed Feedback Lasers- Principles and
Physical Modeling, John Wiley & Sons, England, 1996.
[4] Carrol, J., et. al. - Distributed Feedback Semiconductor Lasers, IEE, London,
1998.
[5] Kinoshita, J.I. and Matsumoto, K. - Transient chirping in distributed-feedback
(DFB) lasers effect of spatial hole-burning along the laser axis, IEEE J.
Quantum Elec., Vol. 24, n.11, pp.2160-69, November 1988.
[6] Coldren. L.A. and Corzine, - Diode Lasers and Photonics Integrated Circuits,
John Wiley & Sons, New York, 1995.
[7] Kamioka, H., et. al. - Reliability of an electro-absorption modulator integrated
with a distributed feedback laser, CLEO Pacific Rim 99: Procceedings,
pp.1202-3.
[8] Chu, S.N.G., et. al. - Grating overgrowth and defect structures in distributed-
feedback buried heterostructure laser diodes, IEEE J. Sel. Top. in Quantum
Elec., Vol. 3, n.3, pp.862-873, June 1997.
References
[9] Aoki, M., et al. - Novel structure MQW electroabsorption modulator/dfb-laser
integrated device fabricated by selective area MOCVD growth, Elec. Lett., Vol.
27, n.23, pp.2138-40, November 1991.
[10] Takigushi, T., et al. - Selective area MOCVD growth for novel 1.3m DFB laser
diodes with graded grating, 10th Int. Conf. On InP and Related Materials:
Proceedings, Tsukuba, Japan, May 1998.
[11] Osowski, M.L., et al. - An assymetric cladding gain-coupled DFB laser with
oxide defined metal surface grating by MOCVD, IEEE Phot. Tech. Lett., Vol. 9,
n.11, pp. 1460-62 , November 1997.
[12] Luo, Y. et al. - Fabrication and characteristics of gain-coupled DFB lasers with
a corrugated active layer, IEEE J. Quantum Elec., Vol. 27, n.6, pp.1724-31,
June 1991.
[13] Koontz, E.M., et al. - Overgrowth of submicron-patterned surfaces for buried
index contrast devices, J. of Semicond. Sci. Tech., 15, R1-12, 2000.
[14] Iga, K. and Kinoshita, S. - Process technology for semiconductor lasers,
Springer Series in Materials Science, New York, 1996.