A MEMS tunable VCSEL includes a membrane device having a mirror and a distal-side electrostatic cavity for displacing the mirror to increase a size of an optical cavity. A VCSEL device includes an active region for amplifying light. Then, one or more proximal-side electrostatic cavities are defined between the VCSEL device and the membrane device and used to displace the mirror to decrease a size of an optical cavity.

A laser comprising a laser cavity formed by a first optical reflector, a gain region, a second optical reflector having a plurality of reflection peaks, and at least one optically active region. The first mirror may be a DBR or comb mirror and the second mirror may be a comb mirror. The spectral reflectance of the second optical reflector is adjusted at least partially based on an electric signal received form the optically active region such that only one reflection peak is aligned with a cavity mode formed by the first and second reflector.

A MEMS tunable VCSEL includes a membrane device having a mirror and a distal-side electrostatic cavity for displacing the mirror to increase a size of an optical cavity. A VCSEL device includes an active region for amplifying light. Then, one or more proximal-side electrostatic cavities are defined between the VCSEL device and the membrane device and used to displace the mirror to decrease a size of an optical cavity.

A direct modulation laser includes a distributed feedback type laser active region and an optical feedback region optically connected to one end of the laser active region in a waveguide direction. The direct modulation laser performs laser oscillation by using photon-photon resonance (PPR) that occurs depending on a frequency difference between a frequency of light generated (oscillated) in the laser active region and a frequency of an FP mode in the optical feedback region.

A QCL may include a substrate, an emitting facet, and semiconductor layers adjacent the substrate and defining an active region. The active region may have a longitudinal axis canted at an oblique angle to the emitting facet of the substrate. The QCL may include an optical grating being adjacent the active region and configured to emit one of a CW laser output or a pulsed laser output through the emitting facet of substrate.

A QCL may include a substrate, an emitting facet, and semiconductor layers adjacent the substrate and defining an active region. The active region may have a longitudinal axis canted at an oblique angle to the emitting facet of the substrate. The QCL may include an optical grating being adjacent the active region and configured to emit one of a CW laser output or a pulsed laser output through the emitting facet of substrate.

Solid-state optical devices (10) enable tuning of an electrically tunable depletion region (200) to reduce and block lateral (in-junction) carrier spreading. This capability reduces the negative effects of gain-guiding in the junction plane and reduces an astigmatism of an emitted light beam. The tunable depletion region is created by forming a highly resistive Schottky contact (105, 110) or metal-insulator-semiconductor (MIS) structure (205, 210) next to a waveguide (optical mode propagation) and current injection region (215), where lateral spread due to diffusion is expected. The depletion region area is tuned by applying a bias to the highly resistive Schottky contact or the MIS contact structure. Such contacts or similar lossy structures reduce in-junction plane gain-guiding also when unbiased by creating additional optical loss for the mode, thus reducing the effective carrier density participating in light generation, thereby reducing astigmatism.

An example device in accordance with an aspect of the present disclosure includes at least one dielectric layer sandwiched between first and second layers, to provide a dielectric characteristic for the device. At least one interface layer, disposed between the at least one dielectric layer and at least one of i) the first layer, and ii) the second layer, is to serve as bond enhancement between the at least one dielectric layer and other layers.

A solid-state light source with built-in access resistance modulation is described. The light source can include an active region configured to emit electromagnetic radiation during operation of the light source. The active region can be formed at a p-n junction of a p-type side with a p-type contact and a n-type side with a n-type contact. The light source includes a control electrode configured to modulate an access resistance of an access region located on the p-type side and/or an access resistance of an access region located on the n-type side of the active region. The solid-state light source can be implemented in a circuit, which includes a voltage source that supplies a modulation voltage to the control electrode to modulate the access resistance(s).

A monolithic QCL/APD IR Transceiver in which the QCL transmitter and APD receiver have the same N MQW stage composition and variation in thickness in the z direction for all positions in x and y directions. The heterostructure is configured via asymmetric stages, additional stages for the APD or by reversing the polarity of the p-n junction for the APD or a combination thereof such that the upper energy state in the QCL under forward bias is confined to the quantum well and in the APD under reverse bias is near the top of the quantum well in energy and localized in the quantum well to spatially overlap with the lower energy state to facilitate detection of echo photons. The QCL and APD may be positioned end-to-end, side-by-side or as a common region of the heterostructure.