A wavelength-tunable short-cavity DBR laser with active distributed Bragg reflector

The incorporation of an active single-quantum well in the tuning layer of a DBR laser is proposed as a way of compensating for optical loss and achieving stable single-mode operation during wavelength tuning. Experimental results demonstrate that the structure achieves these goals while maintaining the efficiency of tuning. In application to a short-cavity DBR laser with a gain region 35-µm long, continuous wavelength gtuning over a broad 4.8nm is achieved with stable lasing properties (more than 40dB of side-mode suppression). Fast wavelength switching less than 10ns to cross a wavelength spacing of 2nm is also confirmed.