840-nm Broadband SLED-SOA MOPA Source integrated in 14-pin Butterfly Module with 100+mW Free-Space Output Power

We demonstrate, to our knowledge for the first time, an integrated broadband master oscillator power amplifier (MOPA) module where amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) light from an 840-nm superluminescent diode (SLED) is amplified by a low-confinement, broadband 840-nm semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) in order to generate power levels of more than 100 mW in free space. The SLED-SOA MOPA architecture is realized on a free-space, temperature-stabilized, micro-optical bench and integrated in a 14-pin butterfly module with an optical window output. The highly-polarized ASE light from the SLED is intrinsically aligned to the polarization of the SOA, thereby providing high-power amplified ASE light with an extinction ratio of more than 20 dB and with an optical bandwidth of more than 35 nm FWHM. Optimization of the ASE input signal and of the booster SOA design may either increase the optical bandwidth of the amplified ASE output signal or may also increase the output power levels to a regime of 200-300 mW.