AP0845 Effect of Tapered Length on Operation of Traveling-Wave Semiconductor Laser Amplifier: A Numerical Study

Abstract

This article presents a simulation study on the effect of varying tapered buried ridge stripes of the active region length on the performance of InP–InGaAsP semiconductor laser amplifier (SLA). The gain bandwidth, noise figure, amplified spontaneous emission, and output noise power are analyzed using a numerical wideband steady-state model for tapered lengths ranging from 25µm to150 µm. The model involves a set of traveling-wave equations that define signal fields and photon rates with the rate equation. The results show at 3-dB point, SLA revealed a wide signal wavelength range with a gain up to 26.7 dB for an active region tapered length of 50 µm. Moreover, the gain of the SLA exhibited the lowest value at a current of 120 mA with a low noise of 2.3 dB when the tapered length was 25µm. Finally, the results showed that the noise power is inversely related to the tapered length, whereas it increases with the bias current.