Tunable External Cavity Laser by Hybrid Integration of a Superluminescent Diode and a Polymer Bragg Reflector

We report a tunable external cavity laser (T-ECL) using a superluminescent diode (SLD) and a polymer Bragg reflector with 0.8-nm mode spacing 25 channels operating in the direct modulation of 2.5 Gb/s for a low-cost source of a wavelength division multiplexed passive optical network (WDM-PON) system. The maximum output power is 12.2 mW and the slope efficiency of the T-ECL is about 0.12-0.17 mW/mA in the tuning range of 20 nm at the SLD current of 50 mA and at the temperature of 25°C. The T-ECL successfully operated in the direct modulation for 2.5-Gb/s transmission through 20-km standard single-mode fiber. The power penalty of the T-ECL is less than 0.8 dB for 25 channels after the 20-km transmission. The power penalty variation is less than 1.5 dB in the wavelength-tuning range of 20 nm. The performance of the T-ECL satisfies the requirements of the WDM-PON system.