Active polarisation control of a quantum cascade laser using tuneable birefringence in waveguides

Dhirhe, D., Slight, T.J., Holmes, B.M. and Ironside, C.N. (2013) Active polarisation control of a quantum cascade laser using tuneable birefringence in waveguides. Optics Express, 21(20), pp. 24267-24280. (doi: 10.1364/OE.21.024267)

Abstract

We discuss the design, modelling, fabrication and characterisation of an integrated tuneable birefringent waveguide for quantum cascade lasers. We have fabricated quantum cascade lasers operating at wavelengths around 4450 nm that include polarisation mode converters and a differential phase shift section. We employed below laser threshold electroluminescence to investigate the single pass operation of the integrated device. We use a theory based on the electro-optic properties of birefringence in quantum cascade laser waveguides combined with a Jones matrix based description to gain an understanding of the electroluminescence results. With the quantum cascade lasers operating above threshold we demonstrated polarisation control of the output.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Ironside, Professor Charles and Slight, Dr Thomas and Holmes, Dr Barry
• Authors: Dhirhe, D., Slight, T.J., Holmes, B.M., and Ironside, C.N.
• College/School: College of Science and Engineering > School of Engineering > Electronics and Nanoscale Engineering
• Journal Name: Optics Express
• Publisher: Optical Society of America
• ISSN: 1094-4087
• ISSN (Online): 1094-4087