Semiconductor Lasers: Innovations, Challenges, and Future Perspectives

A special issue of Photonics (ISSN 2304-6732). This special issue belongs to the section "Optoelectronics and Optical Materials".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 July 2025 | Viewed by 6242

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
State Key Laboratory of Luminescence and Applications, Changchun Institute of Optics, Fine Mechanics and Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun 130033, China
Interests: semiconductor laser; VCSEL; photonic integration

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Guest Editor
School of Electronic Engineering, Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Beijing, China
Interests: tunable semiconductor lasers; mode-locked laser; optical detector; optoelectronic neuromorphic devices
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

As one of the most commonly used coherent light sources today, semiconductor lasers are essential components in many optical systems, such as for optical communication, storage, sensing, and metrological applications, mainly as parts of photonic integrated systems. They can be linear Fabry-Pérot or ring-type lasers, operating in narrow linewidth, tunability, single frequency, multiple frequency, or pulsed. Their numerous applications are ever-increasing due to the unprecedented fabrication accuracy offered by photonic-integration technology, allowing total phase and intensity control of the generated laser light.

In such a well-defined embedded setting, the issues of reproducibility and long-term dynamic stability are becoming increasingly important and should be taken into account in the design and fabrication of such laser systems. Since precise control of the relevant parameters, such as cavity length, Bragg grating, and group velocities, is well feasible, knowledge of the dynamical behavior of semiconductor lasers in their dependence on parameter values can successfully be applied to optimal design.

This Special Issue aims at presenting original state-of-the-art research articles dealing with the dynamics and stability of semiconductor lasers in a broad sense, with special emphasis on their operation in a photonic integrated chip. Specifically, papers are solicited dealing with semiconductor lasers coupled to various kinds of external optical perturbations, such as delayed feedback, delayed coupling, optical injection, photonic nerve signal injection, etc. Researchers are invited to submit their contributions to this Special Issue. Topics include, but are not limited to:

  • Semiconductor lasers;
  • Dynamics and stability;
  • Narrow linewidth lasers;
  • Feedback-induced dynamics;
  • VCSELs;
  • Ring lasers;
  • Semiconductor disk lasers;
  • Neuromorphic computing based on semiconductor lasers;
  • Quantum dot lasers;
  • Frequency combs;
  • Integrated lasers;
  • Pulse lasers.

Dr. Yongqiang Ning
Dr. Xiaoying He
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • VCSEL
  • semiconductor lasers
  • integrated lasers
  • semiconductor disk lasers
  • dynamics and stability

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

14 pages, 1885 KiB  
Article
Featureless Broadband Chaos Through Cascaded Optically Injected Semiconductor Lasers
by Mohammad AlMulla
Photonics 2025, 12(4), 325; https://doi.org/10.3390/photonics12040325 - 31 Mar 2025
Viewed by 235
Abstract
Optical chaos generated by a semiconductor laser under cascaded optical injection is experimentally and numerically investigated. A semiconductor slave laser under continuous-wave optical injection from a master laser is employed as the chaotic laser. The chaotic output optically injects a third laser to [...] Read more.
Optical chaos generated by a semiconductor laser under cascaded optical injection is experimentally and numerically investigated. A semiconductor slave laser under continuous-wave optical injection from a master laser is employed as the chaotic laser. The chaotic output optically injects a third laser to enhance the chaotic properties. Using three semiconductor lasers coupled in a master-slave configuration without any delay-based components, optical chaos is generated without any time-delay signatures present. Flat broadband chaos is observed with standard and effective bandwidths reaching six and three times the relaxation resonance frequency of the semiconductor laser, respectively. For simultaneous flat and broadband chaos, the chaotic optical injection of the second stage is adjusted for weak injection strength and a high positively detuned frequency. Full article
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7 pages, 3128 KiB  
Communication
Phase-Conjugate Feedback Effects in Electrically Pumped Semiconductor Nano-Laser Arrays
by Yuanlong Fan, Jing Zhang and K. Alan Shore
Photonics 2025, 12(3), 176; https://doi.org/10.3390/photonics12030176 - 21 Feb 2025
Viewed by 295
Abstract
An analysis is performed of the response of arrays of semiconductor nano-lasers to phase-conjugate optical feedback. A comparison is made of their response to conventional mirror feedback. It is shown that phase-conjugate feedback induces a quasi-periodic route to chaos. The impact of the [...] Read more.
An analysis is performed of the response of arrays of semiconductor nano-lasers to phase-conjugate optical feedback. A comparison is made of their response to conventional mirror feedback. It is shown that phase-conjugate feedback induces a quasi-periodic route to chaos. The impact of the Purcell-enhanced spontaneous emission, which is a salient feature of nano-lasers, is also delineated for both phase-conjugate and conventional mirror feedback. Full article
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12 pages, 7899 KiB  
Article
A Modified Current-Mode VCSEL Driver for Short-Range LiDAR Sensor Applications in 180 nm CMOS
by Juntong Li, Yeojin Chon, Shinhae Choi and Sung-Min Park
Photonics 2024, 11(9), 868; https://doi.org/10.3390/photonics11090868 - 16 Sep 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1261
Abstract
This paper presents a modified current-mode vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) driver as a transmitter for short-range light detection and ranging (LiDAR) sensors, where a stable bias generator is suggested with a regulated cascode current mirror circuit to provide the bias current of 1 [...] Read more.
This paper presents a modified current-mode vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) driver as a transmitter for short-range light detection and ranging (LiDAR) sensors, where a stable bias generator is suggested with a regulated cascode current mirror circuit to provide the bias current of 1 mA with a trivial deviation of 5.4%, even at the worst-case process–voltage–temperature (PVT) variations. Also, a modified current-steering logic circuit is exploited with N-type MOSFET (NMOS) switches to deliver the modulation currents of 0.1~10 mApp to the VCSEL diode simultaneously, with no overshoot distortions. Post-layout simulations of the modified current-mode VCSEL driver (m-CMVD), using 180 nm CMOS technology, demonstrate very large and clean output pulses with significantly reduced signal distortions. Hereby, the VCSEL diode is transformed into an equivalent circuit with a 1.6 V DC voltage and a 50 Ω resistor for circuit simulations. The proposed m-CMVD consumes a maximum of 11 mW from a 3.3 V supply voltage and the chip core occupies an area of 0.196 mm2. Full article
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10 pages, 4838 KiB  
Article
The Effect of Lens Focal Length on the Output Characteristics of 1.55 μm Tunable External-Cavity Semiconductor Lasers
by Xuan Li, Linyu Zhang, Wei Luo, Junce Shi, Zhaoxuan Zheng, Huiyin Kong, Meiye Qiu, Kangxun Sun, Zaijin Li, Yi Qu, Zhongliang Qiao and Lin Li
Photonics 2024, 11(9), 809; https://doi.org/10.3390/photonics11090809 - 29 Aug 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 3757
Abstract
The 1.55 μm TECSL has excellent characteristics such as wide tuning, narrow linewidth, high SMSR, and high output power and has a wide range of applications in optical communications, spectral sensing, gas detection, atomic physics, and biomedicine. For the TECSL, the choice of [...] Read more.
The 1.55 μm TECSL has excellent characteristics such as wide tuning, narrow linewidth, high SMSR, and high output power and has a wide range of applications in optical communications, spectral sensing, gas detection, atomic physics, and biomedicine. For the TECSL, the choice of collimating lens is very significant. In order to obtain a wider tuning range, five structures are constructed in this paper to investigate the effect of lens focal length on the output characteristics of 1.55 μm TECSL. It is shown that when the lens focal length is 4.51 mm, the minimum threshold current is 52 mA, the maximum output power is 42.36 mW, the maximum SMSR is 62.15 dB, the narrowest linewidth is 0.26 nm, and 152.3 nm (1458.2~1610.5 nm) can be tuned continuously. It is shown that different lens focal lengths affect the output characteristics of the TECSL, and the performance of the TECSL can be improved by appropriately changing the lens focal length. Full article
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