Novel Applications of High Speed Optical-Injection Locked Lasers

摘要

In this project, we have developed a fundamental understanding of the dynamic response of semiconductor lasers under strong optical injection locking (OIL). We have derived a fundamental expression for the maximum achievable resonance frequency in OIL lasers, and shown that it is only related to the external injection ratio and the coupling quality factor. Experimentally, we have achieved a maximum resonance frequency of 107 GHz using both distributed feedback (DFB) lasers and vertical cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) under strong OIL. This is the highest frequency ever achieved for all directly modulated lasers. Using these high speed lasers, we have shown we can generate millimeter-wave signals that can be used to probe the high frequency response of high speed phototransistors. We have also shown the OIL lasers can significantly extend the reach of optical communications, to 120km. for OIL VCSELs.