Modeling and design particularities for distributed feedback lasers with laterally-coupled ridge-waveguide surface gratings

摘要

Unlike the conventional buried-grating distributed feedback lasers, those using surface gratings can be fabricated in a single growth and processing sweep. With the surface gratings resulting from lateral corrugations of the ridge-waveguide the epitaxial overgrowth is avoided, which simplifies the device fabrication and reduces the device cost. However, the laterally-coupled distributed feedback lasers have multiple particularities arising from the distinct grating interaction with the optical field. These particularities, especially the effects of grating geometry, including the limitations imposed by the fabrication technology, are analyzed in the paper.