Improved Spectral Characteristics Of 980 Nm Broad Area Slotted Fabry-Perot Diode Lasers

A novel broad area slotted Fabry-Perot diode laser is designed and fabricated. Using a new semianalytical method, we introduce effective refractive index perturbations in the form of etched slot features into a conventional 980 nm broad area Fabry-Perot cavity, and the spectral characteristics of the device are expected to be noticeably improved. A low density of slot features is formed by using standard optical lithography and inductively coupled plasma dry etching. The experimental results show that the full spectral width at half-maximum is less than 0.4 nm, meanwhile, the thermal shift of the emission spectrum is decreased from 0.26 to 0.07 nm/degrees C over a temperature range of 10 to 60 degrees C. The improved spectral characteristics of the device are proved to be attributed to such slotted Fabry-Perot laser structures.