Modelocked external-cavity semiconductor laser noise characterization and application to photonic arbitrary waveform generation

There are several applications of low-noise, coherent optical frequency combs generated by modelocked lasers. One application is to use the optical comb source in a photonic arbitrary waveform generator. Performance of electronic arbitrary waveform generators is hindered by the speed and linearity limitations of digital-to-analog converters. These limitations may be overcome by the use of high-bandwidth optical techniques.; This thesis investigates the possibility of using actively and hybridly modelocked external-cavity semiconductor lasers to improve upon the speed limitations of electronic arbitrary waveform generators. Pulsetrain noise properties have been studied for different cavity geometries and semiconductor gain medium types. Modelocked laser optical frequency comb stabilization has been achieved and it has made it possible to use the laser in a photonic arbitrary waveform generator architecture. The potential for arbitrary waveform generation and photonic synthesis has been demonstrated by the generated waveforms at microwave frequencies.