Scientific Reports (Jul 2017)

Broadband tunable integrated CMOS pulser with 80-ps minimum pulse width for gain-switched semiconductor lasers

  • Shaoqiang Chen,
  • Shengxi Diao,
  • Pengtao Li,
  • Takahiro Nakamura,
  • Masahiro Yoshita,
  • Guoen Weng,
  • Xiaobo Hu,
  • Yanling Shi,
  • Yiqing Liu,
  • Hidefumi Akiyama

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-07138-3
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 7, no. 1
pp. 1 – 8

Abstract

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Abstract High power pulsed lasers with tunable pulse widths are highly favored in many applications. When combined with power amplification, gain-switched semiconductor lasers driven by broadband tunable electric pulsers can meet such requirements. For this reason, we designed and produced a low-cost integrated CMOS pulse generator with a minimum pulse width of 80 ps and a wide tuning range of up to 270 ns using a 40-nm microelectronic process technique. We used this pulser to drive a 1.3-µm semiconductor laser diode directly, and thereafter investigated the gain-switching properties of the laser system. The optical pulses consist of a spike followed by a steady state region. Tuning the width of the electrical pulse down to approximately 1.5 ns produces optical pulses consisting only of the spike, which has a minimum pulse-width of 100 ps. Moreover, the duration of the steady state can be tuned continuously by tuning the electrical pulse width, with a peak power of approximately 5 mW. The output voltage of the electric pulser has a tuning range of 0.8–1.5 V that can be used to directly drive semiconductor laser diodes with wavelengths in the near-infrared spectrum, which are suitable for power amplification with rare-earth doped fiber amplifiers.