Wideband External Cavity Wavelength-Tunable Laser Utilizing a Liquid-Crystal-Based Mirror and an Intracavity Etalon

Satô, Kenji; Mizutani, K.; Sudo, S.; Tsuruoka, K.; Naniwae, K.; Kudo, K.

doi:10.1109/jlt.2007.901535

Cited by 10 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…Changing the transmission of the LC device for different wavelengths will promote lasing for certain wavelengths and increase losses for other wavelengths. In this way, one can force the laser to lase at a certain wavelength and different techniques have been reported in literature: by using a LC tunable mirror, 108 by using the LC device as a deflector in combination with a grating 109 and by using a photonic crystal fiber filled with LC. 110 …”

Section: Tuning Lasers With Liquid-crystalsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Liquid-crystal photonic applications

2011

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Abstract. Liquid crystals are nowadays widely used in all types of display applications. However their unique electro-optic properties also make them a suitable material for nondisplay applications. We will focus on the use of liquid crystals in different photonic components: optical filters and switches, beam-steering devices, spatial light modulators, integrated devices based on optical waveguiding, lasers, and optical nonlinear components. Both the basic operating principles as well as the recent state-of-the art are discussed. C 2011 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE).[ DOI: 10.1117/1.3565046] Subject terms: liquid crystals; photonic applications; review; liquid-crystal lasers; spatial light modulators; tunable lenses; nematicons; optical nonlinearity.Paper 100913SSR received Nov. 5, 2010; revised manuscript received Jan. 11, 2011; accepted for publication Jan. 13, 2011; published online Jun. 14, 2011. IntroductionLiquid crystals (LCs) are organic materials that are liquid but that show a certain degree of ordering (positional and/or orientational). With this definition, many materials can be classified as liquid crystals, but the majority of liquid crystals that are used in photonic applications are of the thermotropic type. Thermotropic means that the liquid-crystal phase exists within a certain temperature interval (in contrast to lyotropic materials for which the material is liquid-crystal within a certain concentration range). Various types of thermotropic liquid-crystal materials exist, and many different mesophases have been discovered in the last decades: nematic, smectic A, smectic C, columnar, blue phases, and many many more. The diversity of liquid-crystal materials is huge, but this diversity is even overshadowed by the number of applications in which liquid crystals are used nowadays. The majority of applications are related to informationdisplay applications. Liquid crystals have conquered the major market share in different display application areas: television screens, laptop screens, screens in mobile phones, etc. Only in projection displays does a tough competitor exist, namely microelectromechanical systems or licenced by Texas Instruments: Digital light processing. Organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) are the obvious next generation technology that could overtake the LC domination, but today OLED displays have not penetrated the market and only the future will tell if they will. In this review article, we will focus on nondisplay applications, but because we cannot go too broad, we restrict ourselves to photonic applications in which the light is actively manipulated by the LC. In this review article, a certain external influence (surface anchoring, electric fields, optical fields) is used to (re)orient the LC in a certain way. In turn, the LC then changes the light that is propagating through it. Of course, as in every review article, it is impossible to list all the fascinating new scientific results or breakthroughs. Therefore, the authors apologize for not i...

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Section: Tuning Lasers With Liquid-crystalsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Liquid-crystal photonic applications

2011

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“…This design can achieve high SMSR, low relative intensity noise (RIN), and narrow linewidth [8,9], thereby meeting the application requirements of WDM systems. The channel accuracy of the ECTL designed by K. Sato in the C-band with a channel spacing of 50 GHz is less than 0.6 GHz [10]. In 2018, Giovanni B. de Farias proposed an ECTL that meets the C-band Integrated Tunable Laser Assembly (ITLA) specification, and 16-quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) transmission was verified [9].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Model of Dual Fabry–Perot Etalon-Based External-Cavity Tunable Laser Using Finite-Difference Traveling-Wave Method

Jin

et al. 2023

Photonics

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A physical model of an external-cavity tunable laser (ECTL) utilizing the vernier effect of a dual Fabry–Perot (FP) etalon is presented and simulated using the finite-difference traveling wave (FDTW) method. In this paper, we provide a detailed explanation of the physical principle and construction process of the model, as well as the simulation results for the laser. The model is precisely established by studying the time-dependent changes in the carrier concentration and optical field of different wavelengths inside the laser before reaching a steady state. By determining multiple parameters in the tuning region and gain region, the proposed model can calculate and predict various laser parameters, such as output power and side-mode suppression ratio (SMSR). Moreover, the FDTW method displays the change process of various parameters, such as carrier concentration and spectrum, in the convergence of various positions in the laser with femtosecond time resolution. This capability is promising for in-depth research on the inner mechanism of lasers.

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“…Passive and macroscopic devices consisting in a LC-based tunable Fabry-Perot (FP) filter have been demonstrated for a long time [14,15]. More recently, compact photonic devices combining active components such as lasers [16] or VCSEL [17,18] with LC material have been demonstrated. In this case, the operating wavelength of the laser or its polarization state can be tuned.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Liquid crystal-based tunable photodetector operating in the telecom C-band

Levallois¹,

Sadani²,

Boisnard³

et al. 2018

Opt. Express

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Liquid crystal (LC) microcells monolithically integrated on the surface of InGaAs based photodiodes (PDs) are demonstrated. These LC microcells acting as tunable Fabry-Perot filters exhibit a wavelength tunability of more than 100 nm around 1550 nm with less than 10V applied voltage. Using a tunable laser operating in the S and C bands, photocurrent measurements are performed. On a 70 nm tuning range covered with a driving voltage lower than 7V, the average sensitivity for the PD is 0.4 A/W and the spectral linewidth of the LC filter remains constant, showing a FWHM of 1.5 nm. Finally, the emission spectrum from an Er-doped fiber is acquired by using this tunable PD as a micro-spectrometer.

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Wideband External Cavity Wavelength-Tunable Laser Utilizing a Liquid-Crystal-Based Mirror and an Intracavity Etalon

Cited by 10 publications

References 17 publications

Liquid-crystal photonic applications

Liquid-crystal photonic applications

A Model of Dual Fabry–Perot Etalon-Based External-Cavity Tunable Laser Using Finite-Difference Traveling-Wave Method

Liquid crystal-based tunable photodetector operating in the telecom C-band

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