Tunable DFB laser with a striped thin-film heater

Abstract

The authors propose a very simple tunable laser with a striped thin-film heater. The wavelength of this laser changes with a sensitivity of 3.2 nm/W to the input heating power. This laser can be continuously tuned over a range of 4 nm while maintaining an optical power of 20 mW and with a linewidth of less than 2.5 MHz. When this laser is mounted on a module, its 90% response time is 6 ms, which is fast enough for use as a local oscillator in several applications.<>