Provided here are: a semiconductor laser section formed on a surface of a semiconductor substrate; a spot-size converter section in which an optical waveguide having a core layer for propagating laser light emitted from the semiconductor laser section is provided; and a monitor PD section which is provided on the spot-size converter section laterally with respect to a propagation direction of the laser light; wherein, the regions of a PD anode electrode and a PD cathode electrode in the monitor PD section are partially opposed to each other through an insulating film, so that the surge breakdown voltage of the monitor PD section is increased.

In the present disclosure, in an EADFB laser in which an SOA has been integrated, a new configuration in which deterioration of optical waveform quality is solved or mitigated while keeping characteristics that a manufacturing process can be simplified by using the same layer structure is indicated. In the optical transmitter of the present disclosure, a waveguide structure having a tapered structure in at least a part of the SOA waveguide is adopted. A width of the waveguide is changed to be reduced in an SOA region, and an amount of carrier consumption is made uniform in an optical waveguide direction. A waveguide width is continuously reduced in an optical waveguide direction in the SOA so that the optical confinement coefficient is reduced, and light power distributed in an active layer region is made constant.

Systems and methods here may include improved tunable lasers having a tunable filter and a tunable channel selector that can control precisely the wavelength and the bandwidth of the light emitted by the laser, while suppressing light that may otherwise be emitted by the laser outside the desired wavelength and bandwidth with unidirectional ring lasers having a resonator of which forms a ring and where light propagates only in one of the two possible directions.

Coupled-cavity vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSELs) are provided by the present disclosure. The coupled-cavity VCSEL can comprise a VCSEL having a first mirror, a gain medium disposed above the first mirror, and a second mirror disposed above the gain medium, wherein a first cavity is formed by the first mirror and the second mirror. A second cavity is optically coupled to the VCSEL and configured to reflect light emitted from the VCSEL back into the first cavity of the VCSEL. In some embodiments, the second cavity can be an external cavity optically coupled to the VCSEL through a coupling component. In some embodiments, the second cavity can be integrated with the VCSEL to form a monolithic coupled-cavity VCSEL. A feedback circuit can control operation of the coupled-cavity VCSEL so the output comprises a target high frequency signal.

A semiconductor laser includes: a multi-quantum well layer in a mesa structure; a buried layer comprising a semi-insulating semiconductor, the buried layer being in contact with each of both sides of the mesa structure; a first cladding layer with a first conductivity type, the first cladding layer having a lower refractive index than the multi-quantum well layer; a high refractive index layer configured to not absorb light oscillating in the multi-quantum well layer, the high refractive index layer having a higher refractive index than the first cladding layer; a diffraction grating layer at least partially constituting a diffraction grating capable of diffracting the light oscillating in the multi-quantum well layer, the diffraction grating layer not contacting the high refractive index layer; a substrate with the first conductivity type; and a second cladding layer with a second conductivity type above the multi-quantum well layer.

A semiconductor optical integrated element of the present disclosure includes: a laser diode portion which is provided on one end side above a substrate, has a first optical waveguide, and emits a laser beam; a modulator portion which is provided on another end side, has a second optical waveguide, and modulates the laser beam; a separation region provided between the laser diode portion and the modulator portion; and a pair of grooves provided on both sides along the first optical waveguide and the second optical waveguide. The second optical waveguide in the separation region and the second optical waveguide in a part on the separation region side in the modulator portion have a buried structure, and the second optical waveguide in a remaining part in the modulator portion has a high-mesa-ridge structure.

It is an aim of the present invention to provide ultra-compact highly-integrated diffraction-grating semiconductor lasers on chips. Various embodiments combined enable the lasers to be compact in size, light weight, mechanically rugged, low in manufacturing cost, and in some cases high in electrical wall-plugged power efficiency or high in optical power output, comparing to typical lasers based on discrete optical components.

In the present disclosure, in an EADFB laser in which an SOA has been integrated, a new configuration in which a problem of deterioration of optical waveform quality and insufficient optical output is solved or mitigated while taking advantage of characteristics that the same layer structure can be used and a manufacturing process can be simplified is shown. In an optical transmitter of the present disclosure, a waveguide structure having different core widths (waveguide widths) is adopted while using the same layer structure for a DFB laser and the SOA. Waveguides with different core widths are adopted so that a problem of insufficient saturated optical output or waveform deterioration due to a pattern effect is solved and mitigated. A passive waveguide region having a tapered shape is introduced in a part between an EA modulator and the SOA so that a waveguide width is continuously changed.

Various semiconductor laser and optical amplifier designs and injection current control methods are disclosed that enable tailoring a distribution of the injection current along an active waveguide of the laser or the optical amplifier. Such configurations can be used to reduce longitudinal current crowding along the active waveguide of the laser or the optical amplifier. The electrodes and/or one or more layers of the laser or the optical amplifier may be segmented to provide a tailored longitudinal injection current distribution.

In some implementations, an optical device (e.g., a monolithic master oscillator power amplifier (MOPA) diode) may include a first facet, one or more gratings, an amplifier structure terminated with a second facet, and an oscillator array that includes multiple singlemode oscillators coupled to the first facet and to the one or more gratings. In some implementations, the multiple singlemode oscillators may be configured to generate multiple seed beams and to transmit the multiple seed beams into the amplifier structure through the one or more gratings.