Squeezed light is usually generated using passive nonlinear materials. Semiconductor lasers and optical amplifiers (SOAs) also offer nonlinearities but they differ in that they add amplified spontaneous emission (ASE). Squeezing to below the vacuum level has been demonstrated in a semiconductor laser, and gain saturation in SOAs can likewise reduce photon-number fluctuations to, and in some cases below, the vacuum limit. Here, we demonstrate that Rabi oscillations in room-temperature quantum-dot SOAs, induced by short resonant pulses, cause cyclical noise modification that repeat with every change of 2pi in pulse area, corresponding to a fourfold increase in excitation pulse energy. Homodyne measurements reveal in those cases elliptical Wigner functions corresponding to squeezed thermal states and in certain regimes, the state is squeezed to below the vacuum level. At other pulse areas, the Wigner functions are circular representing thermal coherent states. This periodic behavior persists over two orders of magnitude in input pulse energy, spanning several 2pi cycles. Under specific bias and excitation conditions, we further observe a non-Gaussian Wigner function featuring two bright lobes. Although its precise nature remains unresolved, this structure may be consistent with a Schrodinger cat - like state whose accompanying negativity is suppressed due to an approximately 10 dB optical output loss. Notably, the emergence of this non-Gaussian state is itself periodic in excitation pulse energy.

Integrating light emitters based on III-V materials with silicon-based electronics is crucial for further increase in data transfer rates in communication systems since the indirect bandgap of silicon prevents its direct use as a light source. We investigate here InAs/InGaAlAs quantum dot (QD) structures grown directly on 5° off-cut Si substrate and emitting light at 1.5 μm, compatible with established telecom platform. Using different dislocation defect filtering layers, exploiting strained superlattices, and supplementary QD layers, we mitigate the effects of lattice constant and thermal expansion mismatches between III-V materials and Si during growth. Complementary optical spectroscopy techniques, i.e. photoreflectance and temperature-, time- and polarization-resolved photoluminescence, allow us to determine the optical quality and application potential of the obtained structures by comparing them to a reference sample-state-of-the-art QDs grown on InP. Experimental findings are supported by calculations of excitonic states and optical transitions by combining multiband k•p and configuration-interaction methods. We show that our design of structures prevents the generation of a considerable density of defects, as intended. The emission of Si-based structures appears to be much broader than for the reference dots, due to the creation of different QD populations which might be a disadvantage in particular laser applications, however, could be favorable for others, e.g., in broadly tunable devices, sensors, or optical amplifiers. Eventually, we identify the overall most promising combination of defect filtering layers and discuss its advantages and limitations and prospects for further improvements.

We report on a comprehensive study of the electrical and electro-optical properties of 795 nm vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSELs) designed for chip scale Rb atomic clocks. We highlight several key findings including the observation that the current flow at moderate bias levels comprises several parallel paths which are identified by an analysis of the I - V characteristic also confirmed by a numerical simulation. Resistance is a key parameter in any VCSEL. We analyze it in detail at all bias levels and find that above transparency, when the VCSEL enters the high injection regime, the current flow mechanism is modified significantly from an exponential to a power law characteristic. Consequently, resistance attains a nonlinear contribution which is quadratic in the spontaneous emission regime and quasi-linear above the threshold. This nonlinear contribution is not considered in common models. The optoelectronic properties are strongly correlated with the electrical characteristics what allow to explain several peculiarities of the VCSEL performance. We designed and fabricated the VCSELs according to the requirements of miniature Rb atomic clocks, including optimal operation at high temperatures. Their minimum threshold occurs at 363 K where they emit at 794.7 nm. The modal and polarization discrimination in the bias range where these VCSELs operate in practical miniature atomic clocks is well above 30 dB. (c) 2024 Author(s).

Abstract We present a comprehensive study of the temperature dependent electronic and optoelectronic properties of a tunnelling injection quantum dot laser. The optical power-voltage (P opt–V) characteristics are shown to be correlated with the current-voltage (I–V) and capacitance-voltage (C–V) dependencies at low and elevated temperatures. Cryogenic temperature measurements reveal a clear signature of resonant tunnelling manifested in periodic responses of the I–V and P opt–V characteristics, which diminish above 60 K. The C–V characteristics reveal a hysteresis stemming from charging and de-charging of the quantum dots, as well as negative capacitance. The latter is accompanied by a clear peak that appears at the voltage corresponding to carrier clamping, since the clamping induces a transient-like effect on the carrier density. C–V measurements lead also to a determination of the dot density which is found to be similar to that obtained from atomic force microscopy. C–V measurements enable also to extract the average number of trapped electrons in each quantum dot which is 0.95. As the important parameters of the laser have signatures in the electrical and electro-optical characteristics, the combination serves as a powerful tool to study intricate details of the laser operation.

We describe the fabrication process and properties of an InP based quantum dot (QD) laser structure grown on a 5° off-cut silicon substrate. Several layers of QD-based dislocation filters embedded in GaAs and InP were used to minimize the defect density in the QD active region which comprised eight emitting dot layers. The structure was analyzed using high resolution transmission electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy and photoluminescence. The epitaxial stack was used to fabricate optical amplifiers which exhibit electroluminescence spectra that are typical of conventional InAs QD amplifiers grown on InP substrates. The amplifiers avail up to 20 dB of optical gain, which is equivalent to a modal gain of 46 cm−1.

We report static and dynamic properties of 1550 nm quantum dot semiconductor optical amplifiers operating at 25–100°C. Amplification of a single and two 28 Gbit/s channels separated by 2 nm were demonstrated over the entire temperature range.

We report on high quality InAs/InP quantum dot optical amplifiers for the 1550 nm wavelength range operating over a wide temperature range of 25 to 100 °C. A temperature dependent shift of the peak gain wavelength at a rate of 0.78 nm/K is observed. Consequently, two possible modes of operation are performed for a systematic device characterization over the entire temperature range. In the first mode, the signal wavelength is tuned to always match the peak gain wavelength while in the second mode, the signal wavelength is kept constant as the gain spectrum shifts with the temperature. Static characteristics, such as gain spectra and saturation levels, as well as dynamical properties, are presented. Distortion-less amplification of a single 28 Gbit/s signal and cross-talk free amplification of two channels, detuned by 2 nm, were demonstrated over the entire temperature range.

We report phase sensitive amplification in a 1.5 mm long, Ga0.5In0.5P dispersion engineered photonic crystal waveguide which has a flattened dispersion profile. A signal degenerate configuration with pulsed pumps whose total peak power is only 0.5 W yields a phase sensitive extinction ratio of 10 dB.

Phase-sensitive parametric interactions can selectively process the two complex quadratures of the optical field. We implement phase-sensitive amplification in a large band-gap semiconductor photonic crystal waveguide in order to avoid two-photon absorption and free-carrier-related effects. Experimentally, an extinction ratio of 15 dB is achieved in a 1.5-mm-long photonic crystal waveguide, at a peak pump power of about 600 mW. We show that cascaded parametric interaction has a strong impact on squeezing and phase-sensitive extinction ratio and that this depends on the dispersion profile of the waveguide.

We demonstrate phase sensitive parametric amplification in a 1.5mm InGaP photonic crystal waveguide. An extinction ratio in amplification and de-amplification of 10dB with two pulsed pump waves having a total peak power below 0.5W was achieved.

We report the first demonstration of narrowband parametric amplification in a chip scale semiconductor waveguide. A dispersion engineered, Ga0.5In0.5P photonic crystal waveguide with a dispersion function that exhibits two zero crossings was used with a pulsed pump placed in the normal dispersion regime while a tunable probe was scanned on either side of the pump. A peak conversion efficiency of -10 dB was obtained with a peak pump power of only 650 mW. The narrowband nature of the gain spectrum was clearly demonstrated.

We report the first demonstration of narrowband parametric amplification in a chip scale semiconductor waveguide. A dispersion engineered, Ga0.5In0.5P photonic crystal waveguide with a dispersion function that exhibits two zero crossings was used with a pulsed pump placed in the normal dispersion regime while a tunable probe was scanned on either side of the pump. A peak conversion efficiency of -10 dB was obtained with a peak pump power of only 650 mW. The narrowband nature of the gain spectrum was clearly demonstrated.

Nanophotonic waveguides can be engineered in order to exhibit slow mode propagation thereby enhancing the nonlinear responses. In such waveguides, loss and nonlinear coefficients are strongly wavelength dependent, a property that must be considered when the signal to pump detuning is large. Exact formulas for the parametric gain and conversion efficiency, accounting for the dispersion of losses and nonlinearity, are derived here. They can be applied to any waveguide presenting such features; in particular they have been calculated for a III-V semiconductor photonic crystal waveguide, where narrow- and broad-band amplification are predicted. The asymmetry of losses causes major asymmetries in the gain and conversion efficiency, which are no longer simply related as in the case of waveguides in which loss do not depend on the wavelength.

We demonstrate the first narrowband parametric interaction in a semiconductor (GaInP) photonic crystal waveguide. A pulsed pump, propagating in the normal dispersion regime yields a conversion efficiency of -10 dB with a moderate peak pump power of 650 mW.

We describe a numerical study of narrowband parametric processes in a dispersion engineered photonic crystal waveguide with one or two pumps placed in the normal dispersion regime. Gain and distortion of 40Gbit/s data are analysed.

Summary form only given. We describe nonlinear optical effects such as four wave mixing and parametric gain in GaInP photonic crystal waveguides working at the telecom wavelength range −1550 nm. The low linear and nonlinear losses allow highly efficient interactions leading to the demonstration of an optical parametric amplifier. The role of the slow light on the parametric interactions will be discussed.

Optical parametric amplification by four-wave mixing in engineered GaInP photonic crystal waveguides is accurately derived with the inclusion of dispersive nonlinearity and losses. Narrowband optical parametric amplifications are achieved for tunable slow light device application.

We describe a modified version of the split step Fourier transform algorithm used to analyze the propagation of multi-channel optical pulses. The modified algorithm divides the signal spectrum into separate envelopes, one for each channel, and computes the evolution of a set of nonlinear Schrodinger equations which accounts for the dispersion of both linear and nonlinear propagating parameters. We choose four exemplary cases for which the performances of the modified and standard split-step methods are compared in terms of computation cost versus global error of the solutions. We show that the modified technique is inferior when the spectrum is dense but it has a significant advantage for sparsely occupied spectra and for cases when the linear and nonlinear propagation parameters are dispersive.

We predict narrowband parametric amplification in dispersion-tailored photonic crystal waveguides made of gallium indium phosphide. We use a full-vectorial model including the dispersive nature both of the nonlinear response and of the propagation losses. An analytical formula for the gain is also derived.