Experimental investigation of different regimes of mode-locking in a high repetition rate passively mode-locked semiconductor quantum-dot laser

Fabien Kéfélian (1, 2) , Shane O'Donoghue (1, 2) , Maria Teresa Todaro (1, 2) , John G. Mcinerney (3, 1) , Guillaume Huyet (1, 2)

1 Tyndall National Institute [Cork]
2 CIT - Cork Institute of Technology
3 UCC - University College Cork

We report experimental investigations on a two-section 16-GHz repetition rate InAs/GaAs quantum dot passively mode-locked laser. Near the threshold current, pseudo-periodic Q-switching with complex dynamics is exhibited. Mode-locking operation regimes characterized by different repetition rates and timing jitter levels are encountered up to twice the threshold current. Evolution of the RF spectrum and optical spectrum with current is compared. The different mode-locked regimes are shown to be associated with different spectral and temporal shapes, ranging from 1.3 to 6 ps. This point is discussed by introducing the existence of two different supermodes. Repetition rate evolution and timing jitter increase is attributed to the coupling between the dominant and the secondary supermodes. OCIS codes: (140.5960) semiconductor lasers; (140.4050) mode-locked lasers References and links 1. N. Yamada, H. Ohta, and S. Nogiwa, "Jitter-free optical sampling system using passively modelocked fibre laser," Electron. Lett. 38, 1044–1045 (2002). 2. P. Delfyett, D. Hartman, and S. Ahmad, "Optical clock distribution using a mode-locked semiconductor laser-diode system," J. Lightwave Technol. 9, 1646–1649 (1991). 3. L. A. Jiang, E. P. Ippen, and H. Yokoyama, "Semiconductor mode-locked lasers as pulse sources for high bit rate data transmission," Journal of optical and fiber communications reports 2, 1–31 (2005). 4. P. E. Barnsley, H. J. Wickes, G. E. Wickens, and D. M. Spirit, "All-optical clock recovery from 5 Gb/s RZ data using a self-pulsating 1.56 μm laser diode," IEEE Photon. Technol. Lett. 3, 942–945 (1991). 5. A. Schliesser, M. Brehm, F. Keilmann, and D. van der Weide, "Frequency-comb infrared spectrometer for rapid, remote chemical sensing," Opt. Express 13, 9029–9038 (2005)., "An extended cavity diode-pumped femtosec-ond Yb:KGW laser for applications in optical DNA sensor technology based on fluorescence lifetime measure-ments," Opt. Express 14, 5285–5294 (2006). 7. K. A. Williams, M. G. Thompson, and I. H. White, "Long-wavelength monolithic mode-locked diode lasers,"

Mots clés: semiconductor lasers; mode-locked lasers

Domaines: Optique / photonique

Fabien Kéfélian, Shane O'Donoghue, Maria Teresa Todaro, John G. Mcinerney, Guillaume Huyet. Experimental investigation of different regimes of mode-locking in a high repetition rate passively mode-locked semiconductor quantum-dot laser. Optics Express, 2009, 17 (8), pp.6258-6267. ⟨hal-01075179⟩