Q-switched operation of a coupled-resonator vertical-cavity laser diode

A. J. Fischer, W. W. Chow, K. D. Choquette, A. A. Allerman, K. M. Geib

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

We report Q-switched operation from an electrically injected monolithic coupled-resonator structure which consists of an active cavity with InGaAs quantum wells optically coupled to a passive cavity. The passive cavity contains a bulk GaAs region which is reverse biased to provide variable absorption at the lasing wavelength of 990 nm. Cavity coupling is utilized to effect large changes in output intensity with only very small changes in passive cavity absorption. The device is shown to produce pulses as short as 150 ps at repetition rates as high as 4 GHz. A rate equation approach is used to model the Q-switched operation yielding good agreement between the experimental and theoretical pulse shape. Small-signal frequency response measurements also show a transition from a slower (∼300 MHz) forward-biased modulation regime to a faster (∼2 GHz) modulation regime under reverse-bias operation.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)1975-1977
Number of pages3
JournalApplied Physics Letters
Volume76
Issue number15
DOIs
StatePublished - Apr 10 2000
Externally publishedYes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Physics and Astronomy (miscellaneous)

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