Abstract

A widely tunable distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) laser with gratings of simpler structure compare to other types of widely tunable (around 100 nm) lasers is proposed for achieving wide wavelength tuning range (> 100 nm), which consists a front reflector based on a normal sampled grating (SG) with a small duty ratio (the ratio of the grating pitch length to the sampling period), and a rear reflector based on a properly designed interleaved sampled grating (ISG). The interleaved sampled grating (ISG) has an advantage over other complex structures, it is easy for fabrication and reflection spectrum of the grating is stable while tuning. Simulation results demonstrated that characteristics of the reflection spectrums of the both reflectors is good for wide wavelength tuning, and the wavelength tuning range of a DBR laser based on this design can be over l00nm.

© 2011 Optical Society of America