Article comprising a tunable semiconductor laser
First Claim
1. An article comprising tunable laser means comprisinga) a first body having a major surface and comprising a semiconductor layer structure including multilayer semiconductor reflection means and an active region, located between said reflection means and said major surface, with said reflection means and active region being essentially parallel with said major surface, and further comprising first contact means that facilitate flowing an electric current through said semiconductor layer structure such that the laser means has a radiation output;
- b) a quantity of electro-optic material; and
c) second contact means that facilitate applying an electric field across said electro-optic material;
Characterized in Thatd) the quantity of electro-optic material comprises a layer of electro-optic material in contact with said major surface; and
e) the second contact means comprise a first and a second contact layer, with said first body comprising said first contact layer and a second body comprising said second contact layer, the laser means further comprising means for maintaining said second body in fixed relationship with said first body.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
The disclosed tunable (wavelength and/or focal length) laser typically is a surface emitting laser that comprises a multilayer structure that comprises the lower Bragg reflector and the active region. A layer of electro-optic material (typically liquid crystal material) is in contact with the top surface of the multilayer structure, and means are provided for applying a voltage across the layer of electro-optic material. In one exemplary embodiment, the layer is inside the laser cavity, making the laser wavelength tunable. In another exemplary embodiment the laser is a Z-laser that focuses the output radiation, with the multilayer structure comprising also the upper Bragg reflector. In this embodiment the layer of electro-optic material is outside the laser cavity, and the laser has tunable focal length. A still further embodiment is both wavelength- and focal length-tunable. Lasers according to the invention can be advantageously used in a variety of applications, e.g., in a wavelength division multiplexed and/or optically amplified optical fiber communication system.
-
Citations
8 Claims
-
1. An article comprising tunable laser means comprising
a) a first body having a major surface and comprising a semiconductor layer structure including multilayer semiconductor reflection means and an active region, located between said reflection means and said major surface, with said reflection means and active region being essentially parallel with said major surface, and further comprising first contact means that facilitate flowing an electric current through said semiconductor layer structure such that the laser means has a radiation output; -
b) a quantity of electro-optic material; and c) second contact means that facilitate applying an electric field across said electro-optic material; Characterized in That d) the quantity of electro-optic material comprises a layer of electro-optic material in contact with said major surface; and e) the second contact means comprise a first and a second contact layer, with said first body comprising said first contact layer and a second body comprising said second contact layer, the laser means further comprising means for maintaining said second body in fixed relationship with said first body. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
-
Specification