Design and optimization of frequency tunable semiconductor laser used in resonator integrated optic gyro

Frequency tunable semiconductor laser has potential applications in resonator integrated optic gyro (RIOG) for its small size and easy to be integrated. An alternative construction of frequency tunable semiconductor laser with planar waveguide external cavity is proposed in this paper. The frequency tuning section, which is placed between the active section and Bragg grating section, is designed to be one part of the waveguide external cavity. The slab etched grating, based on the silicon-on-isolator ridge waveguide, is adopted to narrow the width of reflectivity spectrum. After the theoretical analysis and simulations, the frequency modulation coefficient of 2.1 MHz/mA is obtained, and the power change is less than 3.6 × 10−4 dB/1.6 GHz. The proposed configuration combines the advantages of wavelength tunable laser and external cavity laser, and it can realize precision frequency tuning, ignored power fluctuation and narrow linewidth, which contribute much to RIOG.