SBIR-STTR Award

Analog Photonics' advanced silicon photonics library and phased array technology will be leveraged to create external cavity, narrow linewidth lasers in a master-oscillator power-amplifier configuration. The master oscillator is optimized for low phase noise, stable operation, and mode-hop-free tuning while an array of coherently combined amplifiers will be used to boost the signal to 1W and beyond. The gain will be provided by commercially available semiconductor amplifiers embedded into the laser with pick-and-place machines post-fabrication and bonded to the chip. Electromagnet Ce:YIG isolators integrated directly on-chip ensure narrow linewidth operation at high power. The wavelength of the laser is swept across >100GHz by thermally tuning a silicon grating. The chirp rate of the laser will be linearized both with pre-distortion of the heater controls and also with a high-speed feedback loop implemented with on-chip interferometers, Ge photodetectors, phase shifters, and electronics. Our advanced phase control mechanism developed for phased array LiDAR applications will be utilized for coherent combination of the amplified light into a single mode fiber or an steerable free-space beam.

Analog Photonics (AP) proposes a hybrid-integrated master-oscillator power-amplifier laser at 1550 nm that simultaneously enables >1 W output power (>1kW potential scaling), <100 kHz linewidth, and >20 GHz mode-hop-free tuning at a chirp rate of >1 GHz/µs. The approach builds on AP’s unique, world-leading optical phased array technology for coherent combining.