External cavity multiline semiconductor laser for WDM applications

A novel technical approach to build a multiwavelength laser source for DWDM applications is described. The basic idea of this system is to maintain simultaneous lasing operation in a gain medium at different wavelengths without mode competition. The system uses a novel dispersive cavity. By designing this cavity structure appropriately, the system creates its own microcavities-channels each lasing independently at different wavelengths across the complete gain spectrum of the laser active material. Multifrequency lasing on the basis of a single diode laser chip was analyzed theoretically and demonstrated experimentally.