Abstract
A single-mode and tunable optical laser source is a key device in the fields of coherent optical communication systems and precision interferometry. In practice, a linewidth of a few tens of kilohertz and stable single-mode operation can be achieved by coupling a semiconductor laser with one of its antireflection facets coated to a diffraction grating which then provides strong frequency-selective feedback into the laser.1 For such a tunable single-mode external cavity semiconductor laser (ECSL), we carried out a systematic experimental investigation of its spectral linewidth behavior as the source output is tuned continuously over a wide wavelength range. We are reporting an important new experimental result from this investigation, namely the rebroadening of the spectral linewidth when the ECSL output is tuned to shorter wavelengths well away from the peak of the laser gain curve. This result has significant implications for the future design of ECSL, distributed feedback, and similar other optical sources.
© 1991 Optical Society of America
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