20-mW widely tunable laser module using DFB array and MEMS selection

Optical MEMS for Lightwave Communication

“…The complexity of the optical hardware and the control circuitry lead to costs that are significantly higher than for fixedwavelength semiconductor lasers, however, so systems solutions that use single fixed-wavelength lasers are still preferred even in applications that would benefit from wavelength tuning. One solution with intermediate complexity and proven market potential is to use a set of fixed-wavelength semiconductor lasers and select the output of the one with the most appropriate wavelength using a MEMS mirror for the selection [149].…”

Spectral and modulation properties of a largely tunable MEMS-VCSEL in view of gas phase spectroscopy applications

“…Another type of commercially available system in the optical telecommunication spectral range (S-, C-, and L-band), which is worth to mention, is made up of an array of several (typ. [8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16]) slightly detuned DFB laser chips. The lasers are coupled into an optical fiber using a MEMS mirror [11] or a passive optical combiner [12].…”

“…[8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16]) slightly detuned DFB laser chips. The lasers are coupled into an optical fiber using a MEMS mirror [11] or a passive optical combiner [12]. Owing to the individual 3-4-nm tuning range of a single DFB laser and to the number of different lasers integrated in these devices, a total tuning range of up to ∼40 nm is achievable, with a typical output power of 10-50 mW.…”

16×100GHz digitally wavelength switchable V-coupled-cavity laser with 40dB SMSR

“…The cost and operational simplicity become more and more important as their applications extend towards access networks such as WDM-PONs. Currently, the commercially deployed tunable lasers are very sophisticated and expensive, such as those based on sampled grating distributed Bragg reflector (SGDBR) laser [1], digital supermode (DS) DBR laser [2], modulated grating Y-branch (MG-Y) laser [3] and DFB array with MEMS switches [4]. In addition to the fabrication complexity involving non-uniform (or selective area) gratings and multiple epitaxial growths, they usually use at least three electrodes for wavelength tuning.…”