Ring-Resonator Based Widely-Tunable Narrow-Linewidth Si/InP Integrated Lasers

This paper presents recent results on widely-tunable narrow-linewidth semiconductor lasers using a ring-resonator based mirror as the extended cavity. Two generations of lasers on the heterogeneous Si/InP photonic platform are presented. The first-generation lasers, with a total footprint smaller than 0.81 mm(2), showed an intrinsic linewidth of similar to 2 kHz over a 40 nm wavelength tuning range across C+L bands. The second-generation lasers using ultra-low loss silicon waveguides and a novel cavity design achieved an intrinsic linewidth below 220 Hz. The lasers also possess an ultrawide wavelength tuning range of 110 nm across three optical communication bands (S+C+L). These are records among all fully integrated semiconductor lasers reported in the literature.