Wavelength control of tunable dense wavelength-division multiplexing sources by use of a Fabry-Perot etalon and a semiconductor optoelectronic diode.

A high-resolution tunable-wavelength controller is achieved by use of an etalon for control of wavelength drift and a semiconductor optical diode (SOD) for channel recognition. The etalon provides a stable wavelength reference, and the SOD can detect mode-hopping and incomplete-tuning problems in tuning a laser. With the help of a Fabry-Perot etalon as a precise wavelength reference, the usual concern with the temperature stability of a SOD can be relaxed at least tenfold compared with wavelength control with a single SOD. We demonstrate the feasibility of monitoring tunable lasers by using a Fabry-Perot laser diode (FPLD) or a semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA). The induced voltage of the FPLD and that of the SOA are modeled with analytic expressions that can help to optimize the operation of a SOD sensor.