Study of multiwavelength DFB semiconductor laser array with asymmetric structures based on sampling technique

Multiwavelength distributed feedback (DFB) semiconductor laser arrays (MLA) with asymmetric structures are studied in this paper. Thanks to the sampling technique, the asymmetric structures, including asymmetric phase shift and asymmetric coupling coefficient, can be achieved by common holographic exposure. Therefore, the cost of fabrication is remarkably reduced. In addition, due to the large scale of the sampling pattern, the wavelength precision of these kinds of MLA can be simultaneously improved. As an example, we designed and fabricated an asymmetrically phase-shifted MLA with 10 wavelengths for the first time. Compared with the common phase-shifted DFB laser, slope efficiency is significantly improved and single longitudinal mode is still guaranteed. Besides, relatively high wavelength precision is also obtained. The proposed MLA configurations may significantly benefit multiwavelength emitters for future photonic integration.