Mode beating and heterodyning of monolithically integrated semiconductor ring lasers

Monolithically integrated semiconductor ring lasers (SRLs) are attractive optical sources for optoelectronic integrated circuits (OEICs) because they do not require any feedback elements, do not have parts exposed to external ambient, and can operate in a traveling-wave mode. They are promising candidates for wavelength filtering, unidirectional traveling-wave operation, and multiplexing/demultiplexing applications. Ring lasers can also be used as ultrashort pulse generators using various mode-locking schemes and as active gyro components.;However, the SRL is a very complicated dynamic system, which requires more investigations to understand the performance regarding details of the design and fabrication. As a part of NASA-supported project "Monolithically Integrated Semiconductor Ring Laser Gyro for Space Applications", this dissertation research was focused on design and characterization of a novel monolithically integrated rotation sensor based on two large-size independent SRLs.;Numerical modeling based on the beam propagation method (BPM) was used to design the fabrication parameters for the single-mode ridge-waveguide ring cavity and directional coupler waveguides. The mode internal coupling in single lateral-mode laser diodes with InGaAs/GaAs material system was investigated by optical experiments and numerical modeling.;To gain the understanding of the SRL performance, optical and electrical characterization was performed on fabricated SRLs. Particular emphasis was placed on the study of optical and radio frequency (RF) beating spectra of longitudinal modes of ring lasers. RF measurements provide high accuracy in the diagnosis of laser oscillation parameters by purely electronic means, particularly in the measurement of the group index and its dependence on current and temperature. Theoretical analysis based on the effective index method provides good agreement between the experimental data and numerical calculations.;Finally, optical heterodyning spectra between two SRLs were first demonstrated and investigated. There was no frequency lock-in observed in frequency tuning experiments, indicating suitability of SRLs for gyro applications.