Extreme temperature operation for broad bandwidth quantum-dot based superluminescent diodes

Abstract

The high-temperature resilience of quantum-dot (QD) laser materials is exploited to realize a broad spectral bandwidth emitter in the near infrared. For an InAs/GaAs-based QD-superluminescent light emitting diode (SLEDs), we introduced a 2000 μm long, 5 μm width ridge waveguide that is tilted by 7° and composed of eight multi-sections. With increased temperature operation over 160 °C, the spectral bandwidth is dramatically increased by thermally excited carrier transition in ES1 and ES2. Additionally, the positive net-modal gain is demonstrated at the high operating temperatures, and this is exploited in the QD-SLEDs operating at 180 °C, which exhibit a −3 dB linewidth of 270 nm and a power of 0.34 mW. The simplicity of this approach, utilizing heat alone, is contrasted with other approaches for the extremely broad spectral bandwidth emitter.