Tunable Lasers Hit New Power Levels

January 10th, 2025 | Applications

Integrated photonics, a technology that miniaturizes and integrates optical components onto a chip, has made significant strides in recent years. Smaller, more versatile, and energy-efficient optical systems have been made possible by this technology, which has applications in various industries, including telecommunications, sensing, and medical diagnostics. Researchers have created a high-power tunable laser on a silicon photonics platform, marking a significant advancement in the field. This accomplishment can revolutionize integrated photonics and enable new uses in various fields, including space exploration, sensing, and LiDAR.

Developing a high-power, small, and tunable laser source has been a long-standing goal in integrated photonics. Due to their small size, low cost, and compatibility with current semiconductor manufacturing processes, silicon photonics platforms have emerged as a desirable option for realizing this goal. However, creating high-power tunable lasers on silicon photonics platforms has been difficult until now.

A group of researchers overcame this obstacle by utilizing an innovative method known as a laser-machined amplifier (LMA). The researchers produced nearly 2 watts of optical power in a small footprint thanks to the LMA’s ability to amplify light while maintaining its tunability.

This accomplishment could revolutionize integrated photonics, particularly in sensing and LiDAR fields requiring high-power, small, and tunable lasers. For instance, high-power tunable lasers based on LMA silicon photonics could make it possible to create small and effective LiDAR systems for autonomous vehicles and drones.

The advantages of this technology go beyond LiDAR, though. High-power, tunable lasers are also necessary for other applications, including coherent communications, spectroscopy, and optical sensing. Creating small, high-performance optical systems for these applications might be possible using LMA silicon photonics.

In conclusion, creating a high-power tunable laser on a silicon photonics platform significantly advances integrated photonics. As researchers continue to push the limits of this technology, we can anticipate seeing even more fascinating developments in the future.

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