Daniel J Francis

US Patent:

6445495, Sep 3, 2002

Filed:

Mar 22, 1999

Appl. No.:

09/273813

Inventors:

Jeffrey D. Walker - El Cerrito CA
Sol P. Dijaili - Moraga CA
Daniel A. Francis - Oakland CA

Assignee:

Genoa Corporation - Fremont CA

International Classification:

H01S 318

US Classification:

359344

Abstract:

A tunable-gain lasing semiconductor optical amplifier comprises a vertical-lasing semiconductor optical amplifier that includes a tunable region which allows the gain of the vertical-lasing semiconductor optical amplifier to be tuned. The tunable region comprises a region whose loss and/or phase may be tuned by adjusting a physical characteristic of the region. For example, the region may comprise a liquid crystal layer whose transmissivity may be adjusted by applying different voltages across the layer to adjust the reflectivity of a cavity mirror, or a cavity mirror whose reflectivity may be adjusted by ion implantation. In an alternative embodiment of this invention, the tunable-gain lasing semiconductor optical amplifier comprises a tunable loss element in series after the gain-clamped semiconductor optical amplifier.

US Patent:

6977424, Dec 20, 2005

Filed:

Mar 18, 2003

Appl. No.:

10/392599

Inventors:

Jeffrey D. Walker - El Cerrito CA, US
Daniel A. Francis - Oakland CA, US
Peter W. Evans - Tracy CA, US
Paul Liu - Fremont CA, US

Assignee:

Finisar Corporation - Sunnyvale CA

International Classification:

H01L031/0232

US Classification:

257432, 257623, 257625, 257 80, 257 81, 257 82, 257 12

Abstract:

An electrically pumped optical device includes a semiconductor active region and a backward diode. Both of these structures are located in the current path of the optical device, which is oriented primarily vertically. The active region has a finite extent along at least one lateral dimension. The overall structure improves the electrical performance of the device.