Infinera Corporation
INJECTION LOCKED HIGH-POWER LOW-NOISE INTEGRATED LASER ARRAY

Abstract:

Consistent with the present disclosure, an output of a seed laser is split by a series of first coupler stages and each split portion is provided to a respective laser in an array of secondary lasers to realized injection locking of the laser array. Undesired light output from the secondary laser array back to the seed laser is monitored and the phase of such light is adjusted so that such light is subject to destructive interference and its power is minimized. Accordingly, light output from the secondary laser array back to the seed laser does not degrade the performance of the seed laser. On the other hand, light intended for output from the secondary laser array is combined through a second series of coupler stages and monitored at each stage. The phase of the output of each laser in the array is controlled to equal or be aligned with one another such that laser array outputs constructively interfere with one another. As a result, the combined output power is maximized.