IEEE PHOTONICS TECHNOLOGY LETTERS, VOL. 14, NO.
7, JULY 2002
Laterally Coupled DBR Laser Emitting at 1.55 m
Fabricated by Focused Ion Beam Lithography
L. Bach, S. Rennon, J. P. Reithmaier, Member, IEEE, A. Forchel, J. L. Gentner, and L. Goldstein
Abstract—By using focused ion beam lithography high per-
formance 1.55- m emitting distributed Bragg reflector lasers
were realized suitable for high-speed optical telecommunication.
Threshold currents of 8 mA and continuous-wave efficiencies
of 0.37 W/A for 600- m-long devices were achieved. Stable
single-mode emission with sidemode suppression ratios of 40 dB
were observed for the entire operation range. By relative intensity
noise measurements an intrinsic 3-dB modulation frequency of
10 GHz was estimated for a single-mode output power of 23 mW.
Index Terms—Distributed Bragg reflector lasers, ion beam
lithography, monolithic integration, optical communication, WDM
source.
I. INTRODUCTION
F OR FUTURE low-cost high-speed optical transmission
systems in local area networks based on dense wave-
length-division-multiplexing (DWDM) techniques, a simplified
process for the fabrication of high performance single-mode
emitting lasers are necessary which allow a high single-mode
fabrication yield and which is suitable for monolithical inte-
gration. It has been demonstrated that most of these demands,
especially high single-mode yield and good wavelength control,
can be achieved by laterally complex coupled (CC) distributed
feedback (DFB) lasers [1]–[3]. The significant simplification
of the DFB fabrication process was obtained by using laterally
defined complex coupled gratings. By adapting this technique
for distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) laser fabrication [4],
the device performance can be significantly improved. The
DBR laser fabrication is completely separated from the epitaxy
step (no overgrowth necessary), thus simplifying the process
compared to conventional ridge waveguide processing. Consid-
ering the high single-mode yield and high mode stability, this
technique is very suitable for the fabrication of monolithically
integrated multiwavelength sources for DWDM applications.
In this letter, we present device properties of high performance
laterally coupled (LC) DBR lasers fabricated by focused ion
beam (FIB) lithography such as low threshold current, high
sidemode suppression ratio (SMSR), high slope efficiency, and
high frequency modulation (FM) response characteristics. By
Manuscript received September 24, 2001; revised March 26, 2002. This work
was supported in part by the European IST Project “Big Band” (IST-2001-
34813) and by the State of Bavaria.
L. Bach, S. Rennon, J. P. Reithmaier, and A. Forchel are with the Technische
Physik, Universität Würzburg, D-97074 Würzburg, Germany.
J. L. Gentner and L. Goldstein are with the Alcatel Corporate Research
+
Center, OPTO , Groupement d’Intérêt Économique, F-91460 Marcoussis,
France.
Publisher Item Identifier S 1041-1135(02)05290-4.
1041-1135/02$17.00 © 2002 IEEE
1037
evaluating 145 devices, a single-mode yield of 98% with a SMSR
of 35 dB could be achieved without any mirror coatings.
II. DESIGN AND FABRICATION
As basic material, we used a four quantum-well (QW)
InGaAsP–InP laser structure which was grown by gas-source
molecular beam epitaxy. The active region consists of four
6-nm-thick compressively strained InGaAsP QWs which are
separated by 10-nm-thick barriers. The laser structure contains
two etch stop layers which define specific etch depths for two
different process steps. These two layers are 140 and 60 nm
above the active region. The first layer defines the ridge wave-
guide (RWG) depth and the second one the grating depth. The
RWG definition is realized by a selective dry-/wet-chemical
etch process which allows a well defined RWG fabrication with
vertical sidewalls and a smooth surface.
After the completion of the RWG the grating is defined by
FIB implantation of Ga -ions lateral to the RWG. The implan-
tation creates a bandgap shift at the implanted regions after a
rapid thermal annealing (RTA) step. This causes a periodic mod-
ulation of the bandgap at the implanted parts of the grating.
In addition to the bandgap shift the implantation generates a
change of the crystal quality of the InP layer between the two
etch stop layers in the implanted regions. This change results in
a strongly increased etch rate for the implanted regions when
using a 10% HF solution [5]. This characteristic allows the fab-
rication of an additionally self-aligned index grating. The use
of this grating fabrication enables the creation of complex cou-
pled (CC) grating structures without any epitaxial overgrowth
step. In contrast to DFB lasers, the grating is only defined in the
DBR section while the gain section remains unimplanted. The
sample was planarized by bisbenzocyclobutene (BCB) which
serves as an insulator and the p-contact layers were evaporated.
Fig. 1 shows a schematic figure of the presented DBR laser de-
sign. The width of the RWG is 2 m to ensure a good overlap
of the evanescent lightwave with the lateral grating in the DBR
section. The dimensions of the two sections can be varied by
cleaving the laser. DBR and gain section, are electrically sepa-
rated and only the gain section is pumped.
III. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The high potential of this DBR design for different ap-
plications is reflected on the light output characteristic
of the LC-DBR laser which is presented in Fig. 2. This
figure shows the light output and SMSR characteristic of a
300- 300- m-long LC-DBR laser with a grating period
1038 IEEE PHOTONICS TECHNOLOGY LETTERS, VOL. 14, NO. 7, JULY 2002

Fig. 1. Schematic figure of the DBR laser design.

Fig. 2. CW characteristic at room temperature of a 300- 300 + 0 m-long

of 246 nm. In addition to a low threshold current of 8 mA, LC-DBR-laser with a grating period of 3 = 246 nm. The dots show the SMSR
this laser shows a high slope efficiency of 0.374 W/A and a of the laser for different drive currents. The inset shows the emission spectrum
of the laser at 70-mA drive current with a SMSR of 48 dB.
maximum output power of 23 mW. Further, the laser shows
a SMSR of more than 35 dB just above threshold while
increasing up to 50 dB for higher injected drive currents. The
low threshold current in comparison to DFB lasers fabricated
by the same technique [2] is mainly caused by reduced losses
in the unpatterned gain section and by a better overlap of
the Bragg mode with the gain spectrum. From subthreshold
current spectral measurements taking into account the laser
geometry, refraction index, dispersion, and material gain the
coupling coefficients of the grating were determined by using
a laser parameter extraction program (LAPAREX) [6]. For
similar processed CC-DFB laser an index coupling coefficient
of cm and a gain coefficient cm could
be evaluated leading to a total complex coupling coefficient of
cm . Since separated gain and grating sections
can not be analyzed by the LAPAREX program, special device
simulations were performed by Montrosset et al. to extract
coupling coefficients from LC-DBR lasers. The analysis show Fig. 3. Threshold currents of DBR lasers with different section lengths as a
a dominated index coupling with a value of cm in function of the grating period. (L = active, L = grating section length,
respectively).
agreement with the DFB-laser analysis, but neglecting gain
coupling. This meant that in the DBR design, the unpumped
grating section acts more like a transparent weakly coupled matrix theory for a 300- m grating section (i.e., 1200 grating
index grating. steps) with cleaved facets like presented. An indication for the
The high slope efficiency of 0.374 W/A, which is much participation of the second facet are the pronounced FP modes
higher than observed for DFB lasers made from the same which were not observed at former DBR lasers with much
wafer, is a consequence of the separation of gain and implanted longer grating sections [4].
grating section. The higher conversion of the injected power The emission wavelength is fixed by the grating period of
into effective usable light output leads to a weaker temperature 246–1570 nm. This wavelength is equivalent to the Bragg con-
dependence on the injected drive current. The low rise of the dition and their position is at the center of the gain function for
internal temperature and the high slope efficiency enables this grating period.
the operation of the laser without any heatsink at high output As demonstrated in [4], the use of the DBR design instead of
powers. The inset of Fig. 2 shows the emission spectrum of the the DFB design leads to a significant reduction of the threshold
presented laser at 70-mA drive current. A SMSR of 48 dB of current for all grating periods. By an appropriate choice of the
the emission mode compared to the Fabry–Pérot (FP) modes different section lengths of the DBR laser a further reduction
is indicated. From the mode spacing of the several FP modes of the threshold current could be achieved. In Fig. 3, the influ-
an effective resonator length of 600 m can be calculated. ence of the device geometry on the threshold current for dif-
This means that the whole grating section contributes to the ferent grating periods is shown. By reducing the length of both
frequency selection. In addition, the cleaved facet at the end sections, a systematic reduction of the threshold current inde-
of the grating section works still as mirror. We obtained a pendently on the grating period can be observed. For a grating
of the grating section by using the transfer period of 246 nm a reduction from 28 to 8 mA and for a grating
BACH et al.: LATERALLY COUPLED DBR LASER EMITTING AT 1.55 m
Fig. 4. Resonance frequency f as function of the square root of the output
power P extracted from RIN measurements. The solid line represents a linear
fit of the data points with the indicated slope coefficient.
period of 255 nm from 56 to 24 mA could be measured. The
dependence of the threshold current on the grating period has
its reason in the strong detuning of the emission wavelength to-
ward longer wavelengths relative to the maximum of the gain
function. The plotted data are evaluated from devices without
facet coatings and mounting.
From the relative intensity noise (RIN) measurement the res-
onance frequencies of the lasers can be extracted for different
injection currents. Fig. 4 shows the dependency of the resonance
frequency versus the square root of the total output power of
a LC-DBR laser with a grating period of 253 nm. As expected,
this laser shows a direct dependency between the square of the
resonance frequency and the output power [7], [8]. A linear fit-
ting curve yields a slope of 2.25 GHz/ mW which is in good
agreement with presented data in [7] reachable for a four QW
laser structure. For an output power of 23 mW, a 3-dB modu-
lation bandwidth of more than 10 GHz can be estimated. There
is no indication that the device is limited by the device design
itself. Therefore, a significant improvement of the modulation
bandwidth can be expected by using more adapted layer struc-
tures with higher differential gain (e.g., more QWs).
An important advantage of lasers with complex coupled grat-
ings is the higher single-mode yield. In a first experiment, 150
LC-DBR lasers with different grating periods were evaluated.
Only five devices were not operable because the RWG of these
lasers were damaged. This results in a 3% failure quota from
all produced lasers. From the 145 working lasers 98% show a
SMSR of more than 35 dB and 85% more than 45 dB. These
high single-mode yields were achieved taking into account all
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lasers including devices with emission wavelengths far away
from optimum conditions.
IV. CONCLUSION
We have designed and fabricated laterally coupled DBR-
lasers with low threshold currents and high single-mode output
powers by using FIB technology. SMSRs up to 48 dB were
achieved with a grating length of 300 m. From RIN measure-
ments, a 3-dB bandwidth of 10 GHz was evaluated. Due to
the weak coupling principle of the grating a high single-mode
yield was obtained with 98% single-mode devices with a SMSR
35 dB, which makes this new type of devices very suitable
for large scale monolithic integration of single-mode emitting
lasers.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The authors would like to thank A. Wolf for technical as-
sistance during device processing, and I. Montrosset and M.
Gioannini from Politecnico di Torino for the their support in the
determination of the coupling coefficients of the DBR lasers.
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