CWDM source based on AlGaInAs/InP monolithically integrated DFB laser array.

The monolithic integration of four 1.5 μm range AlGaInAs/InP distributed feedback lasers with a 4×1 multimode-interference optical combiner, a curved semiconductor optical amplifier, and an electro-absorption modulator using relatively simple technologies--sidewall grating and quantum well intermixing--has been demonstrated. The four channels span the wavelength range of 1530 to 1566 nm with a channel spacing of 12 nm. The epitaxial structure was designed to produce a far-field pattern as small as 21.2°×25.1°, producing a coupling efficiency with an angled-end single-mode fiber at twice that of a conventional device design.