Abstract

Very low-reflectivity antireflection (AR) coatings are essential for fabricating superluminescent diodes (SLD) and laser diode amplifiers. In the former case, it is advantageous to have a back mirror with high reflectivity, R2 ~ 1, and an AR-coated output mirror with reflectivity fii « 0; in the latter case, Rt ~fi2 0. In either case, Rifi2 must be <10^-2 to realize substantial gain without oscillation. Furthermore, R-i and H2 are modal rather than planar reflectivities and represent the fractional power returned to the waveguide mode by the mirror.

© 1983 Optical Society of America