Athermal operation of multi-section slotted tunable lasers
26 June 2017
Two distinct athermal bias current control procedures are demonstrated for a low-cost, monotlithic, three section slotted single mode laser, achieving wavelength stability of ± 0.01 nm / 1.25GHz over a temperature range of 10-85 degrees C. This is the first time that athermal performance has been demonstrated for a three-section slotted laser with simple fabrication, and is well within the 50 GHz grid spacing specified for DWDM systems. This performance is similar to experiments on more complex DS-DBR lasers, indicating that strong athermal performance can be achieved using these low-cost devices. An analytical model and thermoreflectance measurements provide a further insight into the operation of multi-section lasers and lay the foundation for an accurate predictive tool for optimising such devices for athermal operation.
