Modulation Depth Dependence of Timing Jitter and Amplitude Modulation in Mode-Locked Semiconductor Lasers

모드잠김 반도체 laser의 타이밍 지터및 크기 변조의 변조 신호 크기 의존성

In a recent years, a number of approaches have been studied, including passive, active, and hybrid mode-locking of semi-conductor lasers for short pulse generation and research has been devoted to achieve low timing-jitter operation since the timing jitter is unfavorable for system applications. Among the methods of mode locking, passive mode locking does not need external rf drives, and therefore the operation and fabrication procedures are simplified. In spite of these attractive advantages of passive mode-locked laser, it has critical drawbacks such as large timing jitter and the difficulty in synchronization with external circuits. Their inherent large timing jitter value was shown to be suppressed to certain levels by means of hybrid mode-locking technique$^{(1)}$ , where the saturable absorber section was modulated by an external signal with the cavity round trip frequency. Furthermore, the subharmonic mode-locking (SHML) technique alleviates the restrictions of high speed driving electronics. It has been demonstrated experimentally$^{(1)}$ that the hybrid subharmonic mode-locking technique has lead to significant reduction of the timing jitter. (omitted)