FAST WAVELENGTH SWITCHING OF SEMICONDUCTOR-LASER PULSES BY SELF-SEEDING

Electrically wavelength tunable single-mode laser pulses with a width (FWHM) of about 30 ps were achieved by gain-switching and self-seeding of a 1.5 mu m Fabry-Perot laser diode. Using a novel setup with a sho rt, wavelength depending cavity length, switching between different wa velengths is demonstrated here at a frequency of 10 kHz. The buildup o f stable single mode emission takes less than 7 roundtrips thus showin g the potential of this approach for fast electrical wavelength switch ing in the tens-of-MHz range. (C) 1996 American Institute of Physics.