A silicon-based narrow linewidth tunable external cavity laser

Abstract

The invention discloses a narrow-linewidth adjustable external cavity laser based on a silicon substrate and relates to the field of integrated optics in optical communication. The narrow-linewidth adjustable external cavity laser based on the silicon substrate is characterized in that a light source is connected with a first MMI (man-machine interface) by virtue of a silicone substrate optical coupler; the first MMI is respectively connected with input terminals of two arms of an asymmetric Mach-Zehnder interferometer, and output terminals of the two arms are connected with a third MMI by virtue of a second MMI; the third MMI is respectively connected with input terminals of an add channel and a drop channel of a silicon substrate micro-ring filter; and output terminals of the add channel and the drop channel are respectively connected with a first grating coupler and a second grating coupler. Free spectral range of the silicon substrate micro-ring filter is 5-50nm, and the free spectral range of the asymmetric Mach-Zehnder interferometer is 1-4 times that of the silicon substrate micro-ring filter. The narrow-linewidth adjustable external cavity laser based on the silicon substrate has the advantages that tuning range of wide wavelength can be widened, so that laser light can obtain narrow linewidth; and the narrow-linewidth adjustable external cavity laser based on the silicon substrate is a miniaturized cavity laser and is low in manufacturing cost, easy to integrate and low in technological tolerance, thereby being applicable to popularization.

Description

technical field [0001] The invention relates to the field of integrated optics of optical communication, in particular to a silicon-based narrow line width adjustable external cavity laser. Background technique [0002] In recent years, the spectral efficiency in optical communication systems has been increasing, and the coherent optical transmission system is considered to be a very good solution to the increase in spectral efficiency. Narrow linewidth tunable lasers are very important components in coherent optical transmission systems. At present, the existing tunable lasers are generally: (1) Monolithically integrated tunable lasers such as SGDBR (Sampled grating distributed braggreflector), DFB (Distributed Feed Back, distributed feedback) array and Y waveguide, Monolithically integrated lasers require high-precision lithography. (2) A MEMS (Micro-Electro-Mechanical System, Micro-Electro-Mechanical System) external-cavity tunable laser with a linewidth of 15 kHz. The ...

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Problems solved by technology

(2) A MEMS (Micro-Electro-Mechanical System, micro-electro-mechanical system) external cavity tunable laser with a line width of 15kHz. The mechanical control structure of the laser is relatively complicated

However, the use of a single silicon-based microring requires high technology and large losses, making it difficult to achieve such a wide tuning range.

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