Plasmonic structures are widely used in modern biosensor design. various plasmonic resonant cavities could efficiently achieve a high Q-factor, improving the local field intensity to enhance photoluminescence or SERS (Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering) of small molecules. Also, the combination between virus-like particles and plasmonic structures could significantly influence the scattering spectrum and field, which is utilized as a method for biological particle detection. In this paper, we designed one kind of gold plasmonic cavity with the shape of a split-ring. An edge gap and a bonus center bulge are introduced in the split-ring structure. Our simulation is based on Finite Difference Time Domain (FDTD) method. Polarization Indirect Microscopic Imaging (PIMI) technique is used here to detect far-field mode distribution under the resonant wavelength. The simulation results demonstrate resonant peaks in the visible spectrum at about 600 nm with a Q-factor reaches to 74. Localized hot spots are generated by an edge dipole mode and a cavity hexapole mode at resonant wavelength, which is according to dark points in the PIMI sinδ image. Also, the split-ring cavity shows a sensitivity when combined with biological particles. The scattering distribution is evidently changed as a result of energy exchange between particles and split-ring cavity, indicating a promising possibility for biosensing.
K. Bongs, V. Boyer, M. Cruise, A. Freise, M. Holynski, J. Hughes, A. Kaushik, Y.-H. Lien, A. Niggebaum, M. Perea-Ortiz, P. Petrov, S. Plant, Y. Singh, A. Stabrawa, D. Paul, M. Sorel, D. R. Cumming, J. Marsh, R. Bowtell, M. Bason, R. Beardsley, R. Campion, M. Brookes, T. Fernholz, T. Fromhold, L. Hackermuller, P. Krüger, X. Li, J. Maclean, C. Mellor, S. Novikov, F. Orucevic, A. Rushforth, N. Welch, T. Benson, R. Wildman, T. Freegarde, M. Himsworth, J. Ruostekoski, P. Smith, A. Tropper, P. Griffin, A. Arnold, E. Riis, J. Hastie, D. Paboeuf, D. Parrotta, B. Garraway, A. Pasquazi, M. Peccianti, W. Hensinger, E. Potter, A. Nizamani, H. Bostock, A. Rodriguez Blanco, G. Sinuco-Leon, I. Hill, R. Williams, P. Gill, N. Hempler, G. P. Malcolm, T. Cross, B. O. Kock, S. Maddox, P. John
The UK National Quantum Technology Hub in Sensors and Metrology is one of four flagship initiatives in the UK National of Quantum Technology Program. As part of a 20-year vision it translates laboratory demonstrations to deployable practical devices, with game-changing miniaturized components and prototypes that transform the state-of-the-art for quantum sensors and metrology. It brings together experts from the Universities of Birmingham, Glasgow, Nottingham, Southampton, Strathclyde and Sussex, NPL and currently links to over 15 leading international academic institutions and over 70 companies to build the supply chains and routes to market needed to bring 10–1000x improvements in sensing applications. It seeks, and is open to, additional partners for new application development and creates a point of easy open access to the facilities and supply chains that it stimulates or nurtures.
Monolithic mode-locked semiconductor lasers are attractive sources of short optical pulses with advantages over more conventional sources in compactness, robustness, performance stability, power consumption, and cost savings. The use of quantum well intermixing (QWI) to integrate passive sections and surface etched distributed Bragg reflectors (DBR) into monolithic laser cavity will be described. The performance of the devices will be presented.
This paper presents the results obtained by Intense during the development of its 2 kW stack using Quantum Well
Intermixing (QWI). A 200 W QCW bar operating at 808 nm has been designed with a 1 mm long cavity of which only a
fraction is actively pumped. The bar has an 80% fill factor, and ten 200 W bars were stacked vertically in a G-type
package with a 417 μm bar-to-bar pitch. The resulting compact emission area makes the stack compatible with most
existing laser and electro-optic systems. A lifetime of 1x109 shots has been obtained with no measurable degradation.
KEYWORDS: Quantum wells, Waveguides, Semiconducting wafers, Semiconductor lasers, Optical tweezers, Signal attenuation, High power lasers, Lab on a chip, Refractive index, Cladding
Record values for the rollover power and rollover linear power densities of 9xx nm devices, obtained by simultaneous
scaling of length and d/Γ, are reported. The values for d/Γ lay in the range 0.8 μm to 1.2 μm with corresponding cavity
lengths from 3.5 mm to 5 mm. The transversal structures were asymmetric, with a higher refractive index on the n side.
An optical trap was helpful in reducing the radiation extension on the p side and the overall thickness. The highest
rollover linear power densities were 244 mW/μm for structures without an optical trap and 290 mW/μm for those that
included an optical trap
An individually addressable visible semiconductor laser diode array with a 20 μm pitch is demonstrated that is highly
suited for deployment in next-generation digital print systems. The array, operating at 660 nm, comprises 22 single mode
lasers fabricated on a single GaInP/AlGaInP/GaAs substrate. The laser array is flip-chip bonded onto a patterned ceramic
submount that enables the individual elements to be driven independently and is integrated into a 26-pin butterfly
package. Arrays tested CW exhibit low threshold current (<20 mA per emitter), up to 50 mW output power per channel
with a high slope efficiency (0.9 W/A) and a high characteristic temperature of over 100 K.
Unique properties of ultrashort laser pulses open new possibilities for broadband optical communications in both space
and terrestrial systems. Spectral slicing offers a promising approach to wavelength multiplexing using a coherent
broadband source such as a modelocked femtosecond laser.
We have realized a free-space spectral slicing and transmission system, with a spectrally sliced modelocked laser
delivering ~100 fs pulses at 806 nm as the "frequency comb" source. Spectral slicing was performed using monolithic
arrays of electro-absorption modulators (EAM) fabricated from quantum-well GaAs/AlGaAs semiconductor material
with a bandgap energy falling within the fs pulse spectrum. The array bars contained between 2 and 10 individually
addressable EAM channels and were packaged into modules with cylindrical micro-optics for efficient coupling of light
into and from the semiconductor waveguide.
By performing absorption measurements as a function of wavelength and voltage bias on the EAM, we identified the
spectral region where modulation depth was the largest. Wavelength slicing was achieved by fanning out the fs pulse
beam with a diffraction grating and coupling it across the full width of the EAM array. A modulation depth >12 dB was
achieved by probing adjacent spectral channels using ON/OFF keying.
In summary, we have demonstrated spectral slicing of femtosecond pulses with EAM arrays for free-space
communications. The technology can find use in other areas, e.g., instant chemical analysis and remote sensing, as
EAMs can modulate both the intensity and phase of randomly selectable spectral channels, allowing complex spectra and
waveforms to be generated in real time.
Novel types of laser diode array with a 100% filling factor at the emission facet are reported. The arrays utilize both
parallel and tapered cavity emitters that are connected via a common Laterally Unconfined Non-Absorbing Mirror
(LUNAM) defined with quantum-well intermixing technology at 808 nm wavelength. Two LUNAM array types are
considered: incoherent (weakly coupled) and coherent (diffraction coupled).
Incoherent LUNAM arrays benefit from a reduced power density at the facet, improving reliability, and a near-uniform
intensity distribution across the array aperture. Stacked laser diode arrays built with LUNAM bars deliver 950 W power
under QCW operation with <5% degradation at 1.9×108 shots.
Novel coherent arrays are realized using a monolithically integrated LUNAM Talbot cavity. The devices produce a
single-lobed horizontal far-field pattern over a limited current range with <10% slope efficiency penalty compared to an
uncoupled case. The LUNAM arrays are promising candidates for high-power, high-brightness and high-reliability
operation.
Single mode laser diode arrays operating at 808 nm have been designed and fabricated using several different waveguide
and quantum well combinations. In order to operate these devices at 200 mW per element a quantum well intermixing
process has been used to render their facets non-absorbing and thus they do not suffer from mirror damage related
failure. In this paper we demonstrate extremely high levels of reliability for GaAs and AlGaAs quantum well devices
with arrays of 64 elements completing over 6000 hours continuous operation without any single laser element failure and
a correspondingly low power degradation rate of <1% k/hr. In contrast we show extremely high power degradation rates
for arrays using InGaAs and InAlGaAs 808 nm quantum wells laser arrays.
We report development activities towards realization of fully integrated 1×2, 2×2 and 4×4 cross-point optical switches
for WDM-packet based data networking. Two enabling technologies, quantum well intermixing and etched turning
mirrors, are developed and demonstrated in InGaAs/InAlGaAs InP-based material at a wavelength of 1.55 &mgr;m. We
describe the use of both technologies to fabricate switch chips with different port counts.
In this paper we report the development of high power high brightness semiconductor laser chips using a combination of
quantum well intermixing (QWI) and novel laser designs including laterally unconfined non-absorbing mirrors
(LUNAM). We demonstrate both multi-mode and single-mode lasers with increased power and brightness and reliability
performance for the wavelengths of 980 nm, 940 nm, 830 nm and 808 nm.
Photonic integration of large arrays of high power, single mode lasers using quantum well intermixing technology in a small form-factor package is described. Lifetime analysis reveals excellent reliability of large element laser arrays packaged into small form-factor optical systems.
Quantum well intermixing (QWI) of the facet regions of a semiconductor laser can significantly improve the COD of the device giving high kink power and high reliability. A novel epitaxy design incorporating a graded 'V-profile' layer allows for a reduced vertical far-field and simultaneously suppresses higher order modes to give high power operation. Furthermore, the 'V-profile' layer provides a robust design to improve the ridge etch tolerance to give excellent device performance uniformity across an array. Very large arrays of individually addressable lasers (up to 100 elements) are reported with small pitch size (~100 μm), high single mode power (up to 300 mW) and high uniformity.
The market for data modulators at 10 Gb/s is currently dominated by Mach-Zehnder phase modulators fabricated in LiNbO3 (LN). However they are relatively expensive to manufacture and large compared to semiconductor devices. InP based electroabsorption modulators (EAMs), are more compact; however they have a limited bandwidth (5-8 nm) over which chirp is in the correct range to allow >80 km reach. This paper reports the broadband electroabsorption modulator (BEAM) concept in which reach performance in line with LN modulators can be achieved using integrated InP components. The BEAM consists of a series of EAMs, each one tuned to give the correct chirp over a certain wavelength range. The bandwidth of the BEAM can be extended to cover the C-band (1535nm-1565nm). In addition, a semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) is serially integrated in order to recover the total insertion loss. Details of the design, fabrication and testing of prototype BEAM chips operating at 10 Gb/s are reported. Quantum well intermixing technology is employed to realize the multiple bandgaps required for the prototype chips which are fabricated on semi-insulating InP substrates. Highlights of the operational characteristics of the BEAM chips include extinction ratios of up to 12 dB at 10 Gb/s and SOA gains of 20 dB.
Quantum well intermixing (QWI) can bring considerable benefits to the reliability and performance of high power laser diodes by intermixing the facet regions of the device to increase the band-gap and hence eliminate absorption, avoiding catastrophic optical damage (COD). The non-absorbing mirror (NAM) regions of the laser cavity can be up to ~20% of the cavity length, giving an additional benefit on cleave tolerances, to fabricate very large element arrays of high power, individually addressable, single mode lasers. As a consequence, large arrays of single mode lasers can bring additional benefits for packaging in terms of hybrization and integration into an optics system. Our QWI techniques have been applied to a range of material systems, including GaAs/AlGaAs, (Al)GaAsP/AlGaAs and InGaAs/GaAs.
We report the first realization of novel tapered DBR laser diodes incorporating curved gratings. The devices exhibited single-longitudinal mode operation with a side-mode suppression ratio of over 30 dB and a laterally focused beam for focal lengths around 0.5 mm. These laser sources will be suitable for applications requiring both spectrally and spatially enhanced beam quality.
The optoelectronics industry is of increasing importance to the Scottish economy, with annual sales of 1 billion and it is planned to grow this to 8.8 billion by 2010. The industry already employs around 5,000 people and, in the last year, 800 new jobs were created, including a high percentage filled by graduates and PhDs. One of the major challenges is to provide staff training at all levels: technicians, graduates and postgraduates. A variety of organizations - industry, government, university and professional societies - are working together to meet this challenge.
We present the first demonstration of reproducible harmonic modelocked operation from a novel design of monolithic semiconductor laser comprising a compound cavity formed by a 1-D photonic-bandgap (PBG) mirror. Modelocking is achieved at a harmonic of the fundamental round-trip frequency with pulse repetition rates from 131 GHz up to a record high frequency of 2.1 THz. The devices are fabricated from GaAs/AlGaAs material emitting at a wavelength of 860 nm and incorporate two gain sections with an etched PBG reflector between them, and a saturable absorber section. Autocorrelation studies are reported, which allow the device behaviour for different modelocking frequencies, compound cavity ratios, and type and number of intra-cavity reflectors to be analyzed. The highly reflective PBG microstructures are shown to be essential for subharmonic-free modelocking operation of the high-frequency devices. We have also demonstrated that the multi-slot PBG reflector can be replaced by two separate slots with smaller reflectivity. These lasers may find applications in terahertz imaging, medicine, ultrafast optical links, and atmospheric sensing.
Monolithic colliding pulse mode-locked (CPM) lasers operating at 1.5 +m and 36 GHz repetition frequency were fabricated on semi-insulating substrates. An RF electrical signal at a subharmonic frequency was injected into the saturable absorber at various injected RF power levels, and both the phase noise and timing jitter were characterised. Under fundamental hybrid mode-locking (FH-ML) case, the worst-case timing jitter was reduced from 4.8 ps to 0.69 ps with an injected RF power of +8 dBm. For the second order and third order subharmonic hybrid mode-locking (SH-ML) cases, the timing jitter was reduced to 0.32 ps and 0.45 ps respectively with an injected RF power of +15 dBm. For both the SH-ML cases, the amplitude modulations imposed by the subharmonic driving frequencies were found to be very small.
A robust impurity free quantum well intermixing process has been developed that allows complex photonic integrated circuits to be fabricated. Characteristics of the process are discussed and its attributes summarised. The use of the process in three widely differing fabricating applications is described: high-power high-brightness AlGaInP semiconductor laser diodes, nonlinear GaAs/AlGaAs waveguide devices and InGaAsP/InP crosspoint switches.
The role of a robust impurity free quantum well intermixing process in fabricating high-power high-brightness AlGaInP semiconductor laser diodes is outlined. Characteristics of the process are discussed and its attributes summarized. Bandgap shifted lasers have been fabricated to demonstrate the integrity of the material after the quantum well intermixing process. Oxide stripe lasers with non-absorbing mirrors are shown to increase the catastrophic optical damage threshold of semiconductor laser devices. Finally high brightness extended cavity lasers are shown to significantly improve the beam quality, and the insignificant change in the threshold current and slight decrease of the external efficiency demonstrates that the process is low loss.
Using impurity free vacancy enhanced disordering (IFVD), the shift in the band gap of Al0.3Ga0.7As/GaAs QW structures can be precisely controlled by an Al layer buried between a spin-on silica film and wet-oxidized GaAs surface. The blue shift in wavelength of Al0.3Ga0.7As/GaAs QW photoluminescence (PL) depends linearly on the thickness of the buried Al layer. By changing the Al layer thickness, the PL peak wavelength can be tuned from 7870 angstrom for the as-grown sample to 7300 angstrom and 7050 angstrom after 20s and 45s rapid thermal annealing at 850°C respectively. Applying this technology, three wavelength lasers were successfully fabricated in a single chip. The laser is a GaAs/Al0.3Ga0.7As three quantum well GRIN-SCH structure. Al layers with different thickness, i.e., no Al, 200 angstrom and 300 angstrom thick respectively, were buried between the oxidized GaAs surface and the silica film by two step photo-lithography and lift- off in three adjacent regions with 200 μm spacing. After one step rapid thermal annealing, the wafer was processed into 6 μm oxide-strip lasers. At room temperature the intermixed lasers covered with different thickness of Al layer show different lasing wavelengths. All the lasers have similar threshold current and slope efficiency.
A novel technique for quantum well intermixing is demonstrated which has proven to be a reliable means for obtaining post-growth shifts in the band edge of a wide range of III-V material systems. The techniques relies upon the generation of point defects via plasma induced damage during the deposition of sputtered silica, and provides a simple and reliable process for the fabrication of both wavelength tuned lasers and monolithically integrated devices. Wavelength tuned board area oxide stripe lasers are demonstrated in InGaAs-InAlGaAs, InGaAs-InGaAsP, and GaInP- AlInP quantum well systems, and it is shown that low absorption losses are obtained after intermixing. Oxide stripe lasers with integrated slab waveguides have also enabled the production of a narrow single lobed far field pattern in both InGaAs-InAlGaAs, and GaInP-AlGaInP devices. Extended cavity ridge waveguide lasers operating at 1.5 micrometers are demonstrated with low loss waveguides, and it is shown that this loss is limited only by free carrier absorption in the waveguide cladding layers. In addition, the operation of intermixed multi-mode interference coupler lasers is demonstrated, where four GaAs-AlGaAs laser amplifiers are monolithically integrated to produce high output powers of 180 mW in a single fundamental mode. The results illustrate that the technique can routinely be used to fabricate low los optical interconnects and offers a very promising route toward photonic integration.
A distributed time-domain model is used for a numerical analysis of the dynamics of a passively mode locked laser diode under external modulation at a frequency close to the round-trip frequency of the laser. The possible dynamical regimes of the laser are identified as synchronization locking, frequency mixing and chaotic dynamics, including a special case of quasi-locking. For the locked regime, steady-state parameters are defined, the crucial role of group-velocity dispersion in achieving locking demonstrated and stages of the locking dynamics and corresponding time constants identified.
Optoelectronic down-conversion of very high-frequency amplitude-modulated signals using a semiconductor laser simultaneously as a local oscillator and a mixer is proposed. Three possible constructions of a monolithically integrated down-converter are considered theoretically: a four-terminal semiconductor laser with dual pumping current/modal gain control, and both a passively mode-locked and a passively Q-switched semiconductor laser monolithically integrated with an electroabsorption or pumping current modulator. Experimental verification of the feasibility of the concept of down conversion in a laser diode is presented.
Broad stripe semiconductor lasers and laser arrays are capable of generating high optical output powers, but the transverse mode structure is generally poor. Two ways of improving the transverse mode structure by integrating spatial mode filters within the semiconductor lasers are discussed. Firstly, the far-field pattern of 980 nm broad area lasers has been improved by placing passive, low-loss slab waveguides on either side of the active region. Control devices exhibited a broad far-field spectrum (10 degree(s)) containing several peaks. Lasers with passive slab waveguides on both sides of the active region exhibited a single peak in the far-field spectrum, the divergence of which decreased as the length of the passive sections was increased. Secondly, novel antiguided arrays lasers have been fabricated by processes which are free of epitaxial regrowth stages. The operation of antiguided array lasers is dependent on the creation of an effective refractive index step between the antiguide core and the interelement regions. We describe the fabrication of five-element antiguided laser arrays at 1.48 micrometers in which undoped passive waveguiding layers have been added to the standard laser design. These waveguides significantly alter the shape of the far field emission from the lasers, showing that the array elements are pulled in-phase with each other. We also describe a second technique, using zinc diffusion to disorder a superlattice cladding layer, for creating the necessary index step in a ten-element antiguided laser array operating at 0.860 micrometers . Output powers approach 400 mW per facet into a 3(DOT) (FWHM) beam.
The bandgap of GaInAsP multi-quantum well (MQW) material can be accurately tuned by photo-absorption induced disordering (PAID) to allow lasers, modulators and passive waveguides to be fabricated from a standard MQW laser structure. The bandgap tuned lasers are assessed in terms of threshold current density, internal quantum efficiency and internal losses and exhibit blue shifts in the lasing spectra of up to 160 nm. The ON/OFF ratios of the modulators were tested over a range of wavelengths with modulation depths of 20 dB obtained from material which has been bandgap shifted by 120 nm, while samples shifted by 80 nm gave modulation depths as high as 27 dB. We have also measured single mode waveguide losses over a range of wavelengths and these are 5 dB/cm at 1550 nm. These high quality devices showing good electrical and optical properties after processing demonstrate that PAID is a promising technique for the integration of devices to produce photonic integrated circuits.
Deep surface grating structures make possible the fabrication of DFB and DBR structures where the usual epitaxial regrowth processes which compromise device yield and reliability are avoided. A key requirement is that the gratings are etched to a well-controlled depth position close to the waveguide core. This paper describes the fabrication processes for the grating/stripe waveguide structures in both DFB lasers with gratings exterior to a central stripe (effectively providing refractive index confinement) and DBR lasers with gratings etched into the central ridge region. Issues of etch depth precision, grating pattern definition using either electron beam lithography or holography and measurement of the grating coupling coefficient, K, are addressed. Both pulsed and CW measurements of DFB laser performance have been carried out including lasers with a novel (lambda) /4 shift. In the DBR lasers, quantum well intermixing via impurity free vacancy disordering has been used to reduce the optical absorption in the unpumped region below the reflector grating. A direction extension of this intermixing approach will allow the development of a more general waveguide-based integration technology in which DFB and DBR lasers are combined with passive waveguide sections and other discrete devices to form a complete photonic chip. The prospects for successful implementation of this integration discussed and an example given using a surface grating DFB laser.
Impurity free vacancy disordering (IFVD) using dielectric caps to induce intermixing in the GaAs/AlGaAs system is described. Silica is used to promote intermixing whilst strontium fluoride is used as a mask against intermixing. Selective bandgap-widening of GaAs/AlGaAs double quantum well laser material has been used to fabricate monolithic extended cavity strip- loaded waveguide lasers. With a differential shift of 21 nm in the wavelength of the photoluminescence peak, overall losses in the extended cavities were less than 6 cm-1 and a red-shift of the lasing spectrum with increasing passive section length is reported. Electroabsorption optical modulators integrated with passive waveguides have been fabricated using an epitaxial structure identical to that of the laser. At a wavelength of 861.6 nm, devices with a 400 micrometers long modulator section showed ON/OFF ratios greater than 35 dB for a reverse bias voltage of 3 V. A variation of the IFVD technique uses partial area coverage by a strontium fluoride mask under a silica cap to determine the amount of quantum well intermixing. The bandgap can then be varied at will across a wafer. Bandgap tuned lasers were fabricated using this technique. Five distinguishable lasing wavelengths were observed from five selected intermixed regions on a single chip. These lasers showed no significant change in transparency current, internal quantum efficiency or internal propagation loss, which indicates that the material quality was not degraded after intermixing.
Intermixing the wells and barriers of quantum well structures generally results in an increase in the bandgap and is accompanied by changes in the refractive index. A range of techniques, based on impurity diffusion, dielectric capping and laser annealing, have been developed to enhance the quantum well intermixing (QWI) rate in selected areas of a wafer -- such processes offer the prospect of a powerful and relatively simple fabrication route for integrating optoelectronic devices and for forming photonic integrated circuits (PICs). Recent progress in QWI techniques is reviewed, concentrating on processes that are compatible with PIC applications and illustrated with device demonstrators.
III-V semiconductor devices, most notably light-emitting diodes, lasers and photodetectors lie at the heart of modem optoelectronics. The efficiency of the conversion process between electrons and photons, in either direction, can be remarkably high in the best laser and photodiode devices. For communications purposes, the high modulation rate capability of semiconductor lasers and the high bandwidth detection capability of photodiodes, both traceable in part to the intrinsically small size of typical devices, are important aspects. Because of the importance of the communications (in particular fibre-optical communications) applications of optoelectronic integrated circuits (OEICs), this review will concentrate on that area, but other potential areas of application will also receive some attention.
Studies have been made of the effect of boron and fluorine impurity induced disordering on the refractive index of AlxGaixAs multiple quantum well waveguides. A grating coupler formed in low-index material was used to determine experimentally the changes in refractive index obtained in partially disordered material. Over the measured wavelength range 820-920 nm substantial changes 1 in the refractive index were observed. Fluorine was found to produce larger changes than boron for similar annealing conditions.
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