Examples of exercises for the OED final exam

1) Let us consider a laser diode with the cavity length L = 300 μm and the emission
wavelength λ0 = 0.78 μm. If the effective group index at λ0 is ng,eff = 4, calculate the
mode spacing Δλm of the laser diode.
Response: Δλm = 0.2535 nm

2) A laser diode emitting at 0.85 μm has an output power of 1 mW for a drive current of
20 mA. If one changes the drive current to 60 mA the output power increases to 5 mW.
Assuming an ideal P-I curve and neglecting the variation of the laser parameters with the
temperature, what is the threshold current Ith of the laser diode?
Hint: Make use of the P vs. I relation for laser diodes (see the documentation for the
Lab Work no. 2).
Response: Ith = 10 mA

3) The spectral responsivity of a silicon

photodiode is given in the adjacent
figure. How much (in %) is the quantum
efficiency Q of this photodiode at a
wavelength 0 = 800 nm?
Response: Q  80.6 %
Response: Q  80.6 %

4) In the figure below which illustrates the energy band diagram for the active region of a
GaAs/GaAlAs laser diode, the edges of the conduction and valance bands are indicated as
solid lines, while the quasi-Fermi levels under non-equilibrium conditions (i.e. strong
carrier injection due to forward-biasing of the laser diode’s junction) are shown as dotted
lines. Does the laser diode exhibit optical gain at the wavelength 0 = 780 nm?
EFc
Ec

Eg = 1.43 eV 1.8 eV
Ev
EFv

Hint: Make use of the gain condition, also known as Bernard-Douraffourg condition.
Response: Yes
5) We consider a beam of photons with wavelength 0 = 780 nm whose radiant flux is
e,0 = 100 W. Let us suppose that this beam is launched through the active region of the
laser diode described in exercise no. 4 and is propagating over a distance z = 500 m
through it. After the propagation over the distance z, the radiant flux of the beam is
found to be, by measurement, e,1 = 200 W.
How much (in cm-1)is the gain coefficient g in the active region of the laser diode?
Hint: Review the definition of the gain coefficient.
Response: g = 20 cm-1