Photodigm makes breakthrough in grating-outcoupled surface-emitting (GSE) lasers and secures $1M government development contract

January 21, 2003

2 Min Read

RICHARDSON, Texas -- Optical components supplier Photodigm Inc. announced today that it has achieved a breakthrough in 1310nm Grating-outcoupled Surface Emitting (GSE) Laser technology yielding devices with single mode output powers up to 6mW, essentially providing the performance of a DFB laser with the advantages of a VCSEL. Until now, 1310nm lasers have been available only as edge-emitting lasers. While the industry has devoted huge resources towards the development of surface emitting 1310nnm VCSELs, the results have been generally unsuccessful due to inherent difficulties of developing and qualifying a new material structure. Photodigm's GSE laser uses a proven edge-emitting epitaxial material structure (AlInGaAs/InP) and relies on first and second order gratings for the DBR reflectors and the outcoupler. "This represents a significant breakthrough for Photodigm," said John Spencer, President and CEO. "For the first time we have shown that a small outcoupler grating can deliver a significant amount of power into single mode fiber. With this unique semiconductor laser architecture, we expect to provide major improvements in the cost and performance of a wide range of photonic devices in the enterprise and access markets." Photodigm's devices exhibit single mode operation with output powers up to 6mW, threshold currents below 20mA, slope efficiencies of 0.1mW/mA, 5 deg x 7 deg beam divergence, modulation speeds of 2.5Gbps and SMSR greater than 35dB. Its narrow beam divergence provides superior fiber coupling capability and because it is a surface emitting device, it offers significant efficiencies in testing and packaging. In a separate development, Photodigm has been awarded a contract for approximately $1,000,000 from the U.S. Government to develop a high power surface emitting laser. This program builds on Photodigm's GSE laser technology by including a lens-like lateral layer for mode control. The resulting lens-like grating-outcoupled surface emitting (LLGSE) laser is designed to produce a "high brightness" beam with a 975nm wavelength and output power up to 10 Watts. Photodigm Inc.

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