Semiconductor Lasers for Optical Fibre Communications (Invited Paper)

Abstract

The working principles and the operating characteristics of semiconductor lasers are described in a pedagogical manner with particular attention paid to their applications in optical fibre communications. For their use at the fibre-loss-minimum wavelength of 1.55 μm, semiconductor lasers shoould oscillate in a single longitudinal mode. The techniques adopted for the single-frequency operation are briefly described. The performance requirements of semiconductor lasers for coherent fibre-optic communication systems are discussed and the use of an external-cavity semiconductor laser for such systems is mentioned.

Indexing terms:

• Semiconductor lasers
• Fibre optical communication
• Narrow band lasers for coherent communication