Widely tunable laser diodes

Abstract

The chapter provides a comprehensive overview over widely tunable laser diodes and includes a description of the different tuning mechanisms and relevant implementations: sampled grating- and superstructure grating-DBR lasers, Y-lasers, multiple peak grating- and widely tunable filter lasers. The treatment covers fundamentals of the various solutions, typical performance characteristics and control issues as well. The focus is primarily on edge emitting semiconductor lasers, however, VCSELs and external cavity tunable lasers, integrated tunable laser-modulators, and tunable laser subsystems are also contained.