Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Semiconductor amplifiers and lasers with tapered gain regions

  • Tutorial Review
  • Published:
Optical and Quantum Electronics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Semiconductor amplifiers and lasers with tapered gain regions provide the highest-brightness all-semiconductor sources of near infrared continuous wave (CW) power and have many useful applications. Simple models of these devices are described. Their applications, device performance and brightness limitations are reviewedFootnote 1.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. This work was sponsored by the US Department of the Air Force.

References

  1. J. N.WALPOLE, E. S.KINTZER, S. R.CHINN C. A.WANG and L. J.MISSAGGIA, Appl. Phys. Lett. 61 (1992) 740.

    Google Scholar 

  2. E. S.KINTZER, J. N.WALPOLE, S. R.CHINN, C. A.WANG and L. J.MISSAGGIA IEEE Photon. Technol. Lett. 5 (1993) 605.

    Google Scholar 

  3. K. H.NO, R. W.HERRICK, C.LEUNG, R.REINHART and J. L.LEVY, IEEE Photon. Technol. Lett. 6 (1994) 1062.

    Google Scholar 

  4. G. A.EVANS and J. M.HAMMER (eds) Surface Emitting Semiconductor Lasers and Arrays (Academic Press, New York, 1993).

    Google Scholar 

  5. D. BOTEZ and D. R. SCIFRES (eds) Diode Laser Arrays (Cambridge University Press, 1994).

  6. C.ZMUDZINSKI, D.BOTEZ, L. J.MAWST, C.TU and L.FRANTZ, Appl. Phy Lett. 62 (1993) 2914.

    Google Scholar 

  7. L. J.MAWST, D.BOTEZ, C. A.ZMUDZINSKI, M.JANSEN, C.TU, T. J.ROTH and J.YUN, Appl. Phys. Lett. 60 (1992) 668.

    Google Scholar 

  8. J. R. LEGER, in Diode Laser Arrays, edited by D. Botez and D. R. Scifres (Cambridge University Press, 1994) p. 123.

  9. D.MEHUYS, D. F.WELCH, R.PARKE, R. G.WAARTS, A.HARDY and D.SCIFRES, Electron. Lett. 27 (1991) 492.

    Google Scholar 

  10. N. W.CARLSON, J. H.ABELES, R.AMANTEA, J. K.BUTLER, G. A.EVANS and S. K.LIEW, Proc. SPIE: Laser Diode Technology and Applications IV 1634, edited by D.Renner (SPIE, Bellington, WA, 1992), p. 39.

    Google Scholar 

  11. A. P.BOGATOV, P. G.ELISEEV, M. A.MAN'KO, G. T.MIKAELYAN and Y. M.POPOV, Sov. J. Quantum Electron. 10 (1980) 620.

    Google Scholar 

  12. R. R.CRAIG, L. W.CASPERSON, O. M.STAFSUDD, J. J. J.YANG, G.EVANS and R.DAVIDHEISER, Electron Lett. 21 (1985) 62.

    Google Scholar 

  13. J.SALZMAN, T.VENKATESAN, R.LANG, M.MITTELSTEIN and A.YARIV, IEEE Proc. J. 134 (1987) 76.

    Google Scholar 

  14. M. L.TILTON, G. C.DENTE, A. H.PAXTON, J.CSER, R. K.DeFREEZ, C. E.MOELLER and D.DEPATIE, IEEE J. Quantum Electron. 27 (1991) 2098.

    Google Scholar 

  15. Z.BAO, R. K.DeFREEZ, P. D.CARLESON, C.LARGENT, C.MOELLER and G. C.DENTE, Electron. Lett. 29 (1993) 1597.

    Google Scholar 

  16. R. K.DeFREEZ, Z.BAO, P. D.CARLESON, M. K.FELISKY and C.LARGENT, Proc. SPIE: Laser Diode Technology and Applications V 1850, edited by D.Renner (SPIE, Bellington, WA, 1993), p. 75.

    Google Scholar 

  17. S. T.SRINIVASAN, C. F.SCHAUS, S.-Z.SUN, E. A.ARMOUR, S. D.HERSEE, J. G.McINERNEY, A. L.PAXTON and D. J.GALLANT, Appl. Phys. Lett. 61 (1992) 1272.

    Google Scholar 

  18. S.GUEL-SANDOVAL, A. H.PAXTON, S. T.SRINIVASAN, S.-Z.SUN, S. D.HERSEE, M. S.ALLEN, C. E.MOELLER, D. J.GALLANT, G. C.DENTE and J. G.McINERNEY, Appl. Phys. Lett. 66 (1995) 2048.

    Google Scholar 

  19. L.GOLDBERG and D.MEHUYS, Appl. Phys. Lett. 61 (1992) 633.

    Google Scholar 

  20. L.GOLDBERG, D.MEHUYS and D. C.HALL, Electron. Lett. 28 (1992) 1082.

    Google Scholar 

  21. L.GOLDBERG, D.MEHUYS, M. R.SURETTE and D. C.HALL, IEEE J. Quantum Electron. 29 (1993) 2028.

    Google Scholar 

  22. E. S.KINTZER, J. N.WALPOLE, S. R.CHINN, C. A.WANG and L. J.MISSAGGIA, in Optical Fiber Communications Conference Technical Digest, edited by D.Fye and R.Wagner (Optical Society of America, Washington, DC, 1992), paper TuH5.

    Google Scholar 

  23. D.MEHUYS, D. F.WELCH and L.GOLDBERG, Electron. Lett. 28 (1992) 1944.

    Google Scholar 

  24. J. N.WALPOLE, E. S.KINTZER, S. R.CHINN, C. A.WANG and L. J.MISSAGGIA, in Proc. Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics, edited by A. M.Johnson and R. C.Lind (Optical Society of America, Washington, DC, 1992), paper CWN1.

    Google Scholar 

  25. J. H.ABELES, R.AMANTEA, N. W.CARLSON, J. T.ANDREWS, P. K.YORK, J. C.CONNOLLY, R.RIOS, W. F.REICHERT, J. B.KIRK, T. J.ZAMEROWSKI, D. B.GILBERT, S. K.LIEW, N. A.HUGHES, J. K.BUTLER, G. A.EVANS, S. Y.NARAYAN and D. J.CHANNIN, in Proc. 13th IEEE International Semiconductor Laser Conference, edited by T.Ikegami (IEEE, Piscataway, NJ, 1992), paper PD-12, p. 23.

    Google Scholar 

  26. J. H.ABELES, R.AMANTEA, N. W.CARLSON, R.AMANTEA, J. T.ANDREWS, P. K.YORK, J. C.CONNOLLY, R.RIOS, W. F.REICHERT, J. B.KIRK, T. J.ZAMEROWSKI, D. B.GILBERT, S. K.LIEW, N. A.HUGHES, J. K.BUTLER, G. A.EVANS, S. Y.NARAYAN and D. J.CHANNIN, Proc. SPIE: OE/LASE'93 1850, edited by D.Renner (SPIE, Bellington, WA, 1993), p. 49.

    Google Scholar 

  27. R.PARKE, D. F.WELCH, D.MEHUYS and S.O'BRIEN, in Proc. LEOS'92, edited by G.Eden (IEEE, Piscataway, NJ, 1992), paper DLTA 11.4, p. 525.

    Google Scholar 

  28. D. F.WELCH, R.PARKE, D.MEHUYS, A.HARDY, R.LANG, S.O'BRIEN and D.SCIFRES, Electron. Lett. 28 (1992) 2011.

    Google Scholar 

  29. P. A.YAZAKI, K.KOMORI, G.BENDELLI, S.ARAI and Y.SUEMATSU, IEEE Trans. Photon. Technol. Lett. 3 (1991) 1060.

    Google Scholar 

  30. U.KOREN, R. M.JOPSON, B. I.MILLER, M.CHIEN, M. G.YOUNG, C. A.BURRUS, C. R.GILES, H. M.PRESBY, G.RAYBON, J. D.EVANKOW, B.TELL and K.BROWN-GOEBELER, Appl. Phys. Lett. 59 (1991) 2351.

    Google Scholar 

  31. R. R.CRAIG and R. R.STEPHANS, Proc. SPIE 893, edited by L.Figueroa (SPIE, Bellington, WA, 1988), p. 25.

    Google Scholar 

  32. G.BENDELLI, K.KOMORI, S.ARAI and Y.SUEMATSU, IEEE Photon. Technol. Lett. 3 (1991) 42.

    Google Scholar 

  33. G.BENDELLI, K.KOMORI and S.ARAI, IEEE J. Quantum Electron. 28 (1992) 447.

    Google Scholar 

  34. J. N. BRADFORD, J. R. AMES and A. H. MONTROLL, US Patent 4713 821, December (1987).

  35. A. H. MONTROLL and S. H. MACOMBER, US Patent 4 744 089, May (1988).

  36. J. N. WALPOLE, E. S. KINTZER, S. R. CHINN, C. A. WANG and L. J. MISSAGGIA, US Patent 5 260 822, November (1993).

  37. J. E. UNGER, US Patent 4 942 585, July (1990).

  38. C. A.WANG and H. K.CHOI, IEEE J. Quantum. Electron. 27 (1991) 681.

    Google Scholar 

  39. S. B.ALEXANDER, E. S.KINTZER, J. C.LIVAS, J. N.WALPOLE, C. A.WANG, L. J.MISSAGGIA and S. R.CHINN, Electron. Lett. 29 (1993) 114.

    Google Scholar 

  40. J. C.LIVAS, S. R.CHINN, E. S.KINTZER, J. N.WALPOLE, C. A.WANG and L. J.MISSAGGIA, Proc. SPIE: Laser Diode Technology and Applications VI 2148, edited by P. C.Chen, L. A.Johnson and H.Temkin (SPIE, Bellington, WA, 1994), p. 107.

    Google Scholar 

  41. J. C.LIVAS, S. R.CHINN, E. S.KINTZER, J. N.WALPOLE, C. A.WANG and L. J.MISSAGGIA, Electron. Lett. 30 (1994) 1054.

    Google Scholar 

  42. J. C.LIVAS, E. A.SWANSON, S. R.CHINN, E. S.KINTZER, R. S.BONDURANT and D. J.DiGIOVANNI, IEEE Photon. Technol. Lett. 7 (1995) 579.

    Google Scholar 

  43. L.GOLDBERG, L. E.BUSSE and D.MEHUYS, Appl. Phys. Lett. 63 (1993) 2327.

    Google Scholar 

  44. A.MAR, R.HELKEY, W. X.ZOU, D. B.YOUNG and J. E.BOWERS, Appl. Phys. Lett. 66 (1995) 3558.

    Google Scholar 

  45. K. A.WILLIAMS, J.SARMA, I. H.WHITE, R. V.PENTY, I.MIDDLEMAST, T.RYAN, F. R.LAUGHTON and J. S.ROBERTS, Electron. Lett. 30 (1994) 320.

    Google Scholar 

  46. L.HOLLBERG, J.MARQUARDT, M.STEPHENS and R. W.FOX, in Proc. LEOS'95, edited by T. Y.Fan (IEEE, Piscataway, NJ, 1995) paper MS4.1, p. 327.

    Google Scholar 

  47. D.MEHUYS, D.WELCH and D.SCIFRES, Electron. Lett. 29 (1993) 1254.

    Google Scholar 

  48. R. J.JONES, S.GUPTA, R. K.JAIN and J. N.WALPOLE, Electron. Lett. 31 (1995) 1668.

    Google Scholar 

  49. A. G.FOX and T.LI, Bell Syst. Technol. J. 40 (1962) 1347.

    Google Scholar 

  50. S. T. SRINIVASAN, private communication.

  51. F.KOYAMA, K.-Y.LIOU, A. G.DENTAL, T.TANBUN-EK and C. A.BURRUS, IEEE Photon. Technol. Lett. 5 (1993) 916.

    Google Scholar 

  52. M.DAGENAIS, S. H.CHO, P. S.YEH, S.FOX, R.PRAKASAM, P. J. S.HEIM, S. A.MERRITT, C. C.LU, V.VUSIRIKALA, B. P.GOPALAN, S.KAREENAHALLI and E. C.WOOD, in Proc. SPIE: Optoelectronic Integrated Circuit Materials, Physics, and Devices 2397, edited by M.Rezeghi, T. S.Park and G. L.Witt (SPIE, Bellington, WA, 1995), p. 47.

    Google Scholar 

  53. D.MEHUYS, L.GOLDBERG and D. F.WELCH, IEEE Photon. Technol. Lett. 5 (1993) 1179.

    Google Scholar 

  54. P. S.YEH, I.-F.WU, S.JIANG and M.DAGENAIS, Electron. Lett. 29 (1993) 1981.

    Google Scholar 

  55. J. N.WALPOLE, E. S.KINTZER, S. R.CHINN, J. C.LIVAS, C. A.WANG, L. J.MISSAGGIA and J. D.WOODHOUSE, in Proc. Eighth Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics, edited by T. M.Baer and A. L.Smirl (Optical Society of America, Washington, DC, 1994), paper CMA1.

    Google Scholar 

  56. S.O'BRIEN, D. F.WELCH, R. A.PARKE, D.MEHUYS, K.DZURKO, R. J.LANG, R.WAARTS and D.SCIFRES, IEEE J. Quantum Electron. 29 (1993) 2052.

    Google Scholar 

  57. S.O'BRIEN, D.MEHUYS, R. J.LANG and D. F.WELCH, Electron. Lett. 31 (1995) 203.

    Google Scholar 

  58. D.MEHUYS, S.O'BRIEN, R. J.LANG, A.HARDY and D. F.WELCH, Electron. Lett. 30 (1994) 1855.

    Google Scholar 

  59. J. S.OSINSKI, D.MEHUYS, D. F.WELCH, R. G.WAARTS, J. S.MAJORJr K. M.DZURKO and R. J.LANG, Appl. Phys. Lett. 66 (1995) 556.

    Google Scholar 

  60. J.-M.VERDIELL, J. S.OSINSKY, D. F.WELCH and D. R.SCIFRES, Electron. Lett. 31 (1995) 1187.

    Google Scholar 

  61. L.GOLDBERG and D.MEHUYS, Electron. Lett. B30 (1994) 1682.

    Google Scholar 

  62. D.BOTEZ, M.JANSEN, C.ZMUDZINSKI, L. J.MAWST, P.HARASHIDA, C.TU and R. F.NABIEV, Appl. Phys. Lett. 63 (1993) 3113.

    Google Scholar 

  63. D.MEHUYS, R. S.GEELS, W. E.PLANO and D. F.WELCH, Electron. Lett. 30 (1994) 961.

    Google Scholar 

  64. S.O'BRIEN, D.MEHUYS, J.MAJOR, R.LANG, R.PARKE, D. F.WELCH and D.SCIFRES, Electron. Lett. 29 (1993) 2109.

    Google Scholar 

  65. H. K.CHOI, J. N.WALPOLE, G. W.TURNER, S. J.EGLASH, L. J.MISSAGGIA and M. K.CONNORS, IEEE Photon. Technol. Lett. 5 (1993) 1117.

    Google Scholar 

  66. D. G.MEHUYS, J. S.MAJORJr, W. E.PLANO and D. F.WELCH, Electron. Lett. 30 (1994) 1131.

    Google Scholar 

  67. S. H.GROVES, J. P.DONNELLY, J. N.WALPOLE, J. D.WOODHOUSE, L. J.MISSAGGIA, R. J.BAILEY and A.NAPOLONE, IEEE Photon. Technol. Lett. 6 (1994) 1286.

    Google Scholar 

  68. J. N. WALPOLE, J. D. WOODHOUSE, L. J. MISSAGGIA, J. P. DONNELLY, S. H. GROVES, R. J. BAILEY and A. NAPOLONE, Solid State Research Report, Vol. 1 (Lincoln Laboratory, 1995) p. 1.

  69. J.MANNING, R.OLSHANSKY and C. B.SU, IEEE J. Quantum Electron. QE19 (1983) 1525.

    Google Scholar 

  70. W.RIDEOUT, B.YU, J.LaCOURSE, P. K.YORK, K. J.BEERNINK and J. J.COLEMAN, Appl. Phys. Lett. 56 (1990) 706.

    Google Scholar 

  71. C. H.HENRY, IEEE J. Quantum Electron. 18 (1982) 259.

    Google Scholar 

  72. A. H.PAXTON and G. C.DENTE, J. Appl. Phys. 70 (1991) 2921.

    Google Scholar 

  73. G. C.DENTE and M. L.TILTON, IEEE J. Quantum Electron. 29 (1993) 76.

    Google Scholar 

  74. G. R.HADLEY, J. P.HOHIMER and A.OWYOUNG, IEEE J. Quantum Electron. 24 (1988) 2138.

    Google Scholar 

  75. L.GOLDBERG and J. F.WELLER, Appl. Phys. Lett. 58 (1991) 1357.

    Google Scholar 

  76. L.GOLDBERG, J. F.WELLER, D.MEHUYS, D. F.WELCH and D. R.SCIFRES, Electron. Lett. 27 (1991) 927.

    Google Scholar 

  77. J. R.ANDREWS and G. L.SCHUSTER, Opt. Lett. 16 (1991) 913.

    Google Scholar 

  78. G. L.ABBAS, S.YANG, V. W. S.CHAN and J. G.FUJIMOTO, IEEE J. Quantum Electron. 24 (1988) 609.

    Google Scholar 

  79. M. L.TILTON, Proc. SPIE: Laser Resonator and Coherent Optics Modelling, Technology and Applications 1868, edited by A.Bhowmik (SPIE, Bellington, WA, 1993), p. 205.

    Google Scholar 

  80. S. R. CHINN, private communication.

  81. J. N.WALPOLE, E. S.KINTZER, S. R.CHINN, C. A.WANG and L. J.MISSAGGIA, Proc. SPIE: Laser Diode Technology and Applications V 1850, edited by D.Renner (SPIE, Bellington, WA, 1993), p. 51.

    Google Scholar 

  82. R. J.LANG, A.HARDY, R.PARKE, D.MEHUYS, S.O'BRIEN, J.MAJOR and D.WELCH, IEEE J. Quantum Electron. 29 (1993) 2044.

    Google Scholar 

  83. R. J.LANG, D.MEHUYS, A.HARDY, K. M.DZURKO and D. F.WELCH, Appl. Phys. Lett. 62 (1993) 1209.

    Google Scholar 

  84. J. K.WHITE, J. G.McINERNEY and J. V.MOLONEY, Electron. Lett. 31 (1995) 38.

    Google Scholar 

  85. H.ADACHIHARA, O.HESS, E.ABRAHAM, P.RU and J. V.MOLONEY, J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 10 (1993) 658.

    Google Scholar 

  86. L.GOLDBERG, M. R.SURETTE and D.MEHUYS, Appl. Phys. Lett. 62 (1993) 2304.

    Google Scholar 

  87. D. J.BOSSERT, J. R.MARCIANTE and M. W.WRIGHT, IEEE Photon. Technol. Lett. 7 (1995) 470.

    Google Scholar 

  88. A. V.CHELNOKOV, J.-M.LOURTIOZ and P.GAVRILOVIC, IEEE Photon. Technol. Lett. 7 (1995) 863.

    Google Scholar 

  89. J. H.ABELES, R.AMANTEA, R.RIOS and D. J.CHANNIN, in Optical Design for Photonics Topical Meeting, Technical Digest Series 9, edited by D. C.Sinclair and W. J.Tomlinson (Optical Society of America, Washington, DC, 1993), PD2-1.

    Google Scholar 

  90. J. D.RALSTON, F. R.LAUGHTON, P.CHAZAN, E. C.LARKINS, M.MAIER, M. K.ABD RAHMAN and I. H.WHITE, Electron. Lett. 31 (1995) 651.

    Google Scholar 

  91. J. C.LIVAS, S. R.CHINN, E. S.KINTZER, J. N.WALPOLE, C. A.WANG and L. J.MISSAGGIA, IEEE Photon. Technol. Lett. 6 (1994) 422.

    Google Scholar 

  92. J. C.LIVAS, S. R.CHINN, E. S.KINTZER, J. N.WALPOLE, C. A.WANG and L. J.MISSAGGIA, in Conference on Optical Amplifiers and Their Applications, Technical Digest Series, Vol. 14 (Optical Society of America, Washington, DC, 1994), p. 29.

    Google Scholar 

  93. F.SHUM, R.PARKE, G.HARNAGEL, R.LANG and D.WELCH, in Optical Fiber Communications Conference Technical Digest, edited by R. S.Lowe and N. A.Olsson (Optical Society of America, Washington, DC, 1995), paper PD13-2.

    Google Scholar 

  94. Z. L.LIAU, J. N.WALPOLE, D. E.MULL, C. L.DENNIS and L. J.MISSAGGIA, Appl. Phys. Lett. 64 (1994) 3368.

    Google Scholar 

  95. Z. L.LIAU, J. N.WALPOLE, J. C.LIVAS, E. S.KINTZER, D. E.MULL, L. J.MISSAGGIA and W. F.DiNATALE, IEEE Photon. Technol. Lett. 7 (1995) 1315.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Lincoln Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 02 173-9108, Lexington, MA, USA

    J. N. Walpole

Authors
  1. J. N. Walpole
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Walpole, J.N. Semiconductor amplifiers and lasers with tapered gain regions. Opt Quant Electron 28, 623–645 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00411298

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00411298

Keywords

Search

Navigation