RECENT ADVANCES IN LONG-WAVELENGTH SEMICONDUCTOR-LASERS FOR OPTICAL FIBER COMMUNICATION

Semiconductor lasers have played a major role as light sources in the rapid deployment of optical fiber communication systems in the last decade. The almost unlimited bandwidth of the single-mode fiber provides the opportunity for applying the system technology to build a broad-band network, such as the broad-band integrated service network (BISDN), which can offer users a flexible, all-purpose, two-way medium far more advanced than today's telephone network. For the realization of such a broad-band network, semiconductor lasers with very low threshold current, high speed of modulation, tunable wavelength, high power output, and low noise are desirable. Low cost and high reliability may be achievable with opto-electronic integrated circuits. This paper presents a review of recent advances of semiconductor lasers in the long wavelength region. A brief tutorial on the basic laser characteristics and their underlying principles is also included.