Simple detuning method for low-chirp operation

in polymer-based tunable external-cavity lasers

Byung-Seok Choi,1,2* Jong Sool Jeong,2 Hak-Kyu Lee,3 and Yun C. Chung1
Department of Electrical Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, 291 Daehak-ro
1

Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 305-701, South Korea

2
Photonic-Wireless Convergence Components Department, Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute,
138 Gajeong-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, 305-350, South Korea
3
ChemOptics Inc., 836 Tamrip-dong, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, 305-510, South Korea
*
chbs@kaist.ac.kr

Abstract: We propose and demonstrate a simple detuning method for the

low-chirp operation of a polymer-based tunable external-cavity laser (ECL).
To ensure the low-chirp operation of this directly-modulated ECL, we first
obtain the optimum values of the heater current applied to the polymer
Bragg grating reflector (PBR) and the operating temperature of this ECL.
For this purpose, we sweep the current applied to the phase control heater
until the peak output power measured from the high-reflection (HR) coated
facet reaches the minimum value. We then operate this ECL with minimum
chirp by tuning the lasing mode to the longer wavelength limit of the stable
operation region. This is because the detuned loading effect is maximized at
this limit as the in-phase condition between the lights reflected from the
PBR and anti-reflection (AR) coated facet of the gain medium is satisfied.
Thus, by using this method together with conventional wavelength-locking
algorithm, we can operate this ECL with minimum chirp at any wavelength.
©2015 Optical Society of America
OCIS codes: (130.5460) Polymer waveguides; (140.3600) Lasers, tunable; (230.1480) Bragg
reflectors; (130.3120) Integrated optics devices; (250.5960) Semiconductor lasers.

References and links

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Lee, and Y. C. Chung, “10-Gb/s direct modulation of polymer-based tunable external cavity lasers,” Opt.
Express 20(18), 20368–20375 (2012).
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(2000).
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#251414 Received 5 Oct 2015; revised 11 Nov 2015; accepted 11 Nov 2015; published 16 Nov 2015
© 2015 OSA 30 Nov 2015 | Vol. 23, No. 24 | DOI:10.1364/OE.23.030657 | OPTICS EXPRESS 30657
12. N. Ogasawara, R. Ito, and R. Ito, “Longitudinal mode competition and asymmetric gain saturation in
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1. Introduction
A polymer-based tunable external-cavity laser (ECL) capable of operating at 10 Gb/s has
been recently developed as a low-cost light source for next-generation passive optical
networks [1]. This ECL is implemented simply by butt-coupling a polymer-based tunable
reflector with a high thermo-optic coefficient (~-2.5x10−4 /°C) to a high-speed
superluminescent diode (SLD). It has been reported that the transmission distance achievable
by this ECL can be considerably extended by using the detuned loading effect owing to the
large stable operation region toward the longer wavelength from the peak of the Bragg
reflection [1–4]. For example, by using this effect, we have recently demonstrated the
transmission of a 10-Gb/s signal over 20 km of standard single-mode fiber (SSMF) with a
power penalty of <2 dB [4]. However, this performance can be obtained only when we detune
the lasing mode of the ECL to the longer wavelength limit. Thus, for the practicality, it is
necessary to develop an efficient method for operating the ECL under this detuning condition.
The detuning of the lasing mode can be achieved by shifting the comb-mode spectrum of
the ECL against the peak wavelength of the Bragg reflection. Thus, for this purpose, we need
to adjust both the grating heater (which controls the peak wavelength of the reflector) and the
phase control (PC) heater (which fine-tunes the comb mode) simultaneously. Several
measurement methods can be used for such adjustments. For example, we can trace the
movement of the lasing mode to the longer wavelength region by measuring the optical
spectrum of the ECL. We can also identify the low-chirp operating condition of the ECL by
measuring the eye diagram or bit-error rate (BER) of a high-speed signal after a transmission
over a sufficient length of SSMF. However, these methods are not useful when a parasitic
reflection occurs at the anti-reflection (AR) coated facet of the SLD. This is because the
amount of chirp is highly dependent on this parasitic reflection [4]. Thus, to operate the ECL
with minimum chirp at any wavelength, it is necessary to utilize another parameter that
controls the variation caused by the parasitic reflection. However, owing to this additional
parameter, we cannot identify the minimum chirp by using the method based on the optical
spectrum. A method based on a BER measurement also becomes inefficient owing to the
substantially increased measurement time caused by the use of three different parameters. In
fact, to the best of our knowledge, there has been no report yet on an efficient method for
identifying the low-chirp operating condition of the ECL achievable by using the detuned
loading effect.
In this paper, we propose a simple detuning method for the minimum-chirp operation by
monitoring the output power from the high-reflection (HR) coated facet (referred to as ‘HR
power’ in this paper). We choose this power rather than the output power from the polymer
Bragg grating reflector (referred to as ‘PBR power’) because the power variation is much
larger at the HR-coated facet. In addition, this HR power has a similar trend to the wavelength
shift of the lasing mode in the longer wavelength region while sweeping the current applied to
the PC heater. For this method, we first measure the output power while sweeping the current
applied to the PC heater under various conditions. We then identify the optimal values of the
grating heater current and the operating temperature from where the minimum peak power is
observed in this swept curve. After setting these two values, we can achieve the lowest chirp
by detuning the lasing mode to the longer wavelength limit with the PC heater. This is
because the in-phase condition between the lights reflected from the PBR and the AR-coated
facet is satisfied at the longer wavelength limit while sweeping this PC current [4]. On the
other hand, these lights become out-of-phase near the zero detuning, where the HR power is
maximized [4]. To verify the effectiveness of this method, we directly modulate the
fabricated ECL at 10 Gb/s with an extinction ratio of ~6 dB and evaluate its performance after
the transmission over 20-km-long standard single-mode fiber (SSMF). The results show that

#251414 Received 5 Oct 2015; revised 11 Nov 2015; accepted 11 Nov 2015; published 16 Nov 2015
© 2015 OSA 30 Nov 2015 | Vol. 23, No. 24 | DOI:10.1364/OE.23.030657 | OPTICS EXPRESS 30658
we can indeed obtain the minimum power penalty under the conditions set by the proposed
detuning method. We also confirm that this method can be integrated with a wavelength-
locking algorithm to ensure the minimum-chirp operation at any available wavelength.
2. Operating principles
To develop a method for setting the optimal chirp conditions of a tunable ECL, it is crucial to
understand the internal state of the device under such conditions and then choose a suitable
monitored parameter that best reflects the chirp variations. For this purpose, we investigate
the relation between the device parameters and the controllable variables for the proposed
ECL structure. Based on these results, we estimate the changes in the effective line-width
enhancement factor (LEF) as we detune the lasing mode, particularly for the case of a
parasitic reflection. Finally, we assess the suitability of the output power as a monitored
signal of the chirp conditions by analyzing how the output power is determined. The ECL
model utilized for the analysis is based on a transmission line method, and the model
parameters used are listed in Table 1 [4–7].
2.1 Device structure and control parameters of the tunable ECL
Figure 1 shows a schematic diagram of the polymer-based tunable ECL analyzed in the
present paper. Some of the special features designed for use in high-speed, long-distance
transmission systems are as follows. We use a high-speed SLD as the gain medium. This SLD
has a lateral taper structure to enhance the coupling efficiency to the PBR [8]. The PBR is
composed of a grating section, which acts as an external reflector with a wide tuning range,
and a PC section, which tunes the position of the comb modes of the ECL. A grating with a
low coupling coefficient (i.e., κ = 150 m−1) is engraved on the waveguide of the PBR. For
high-speed operation, we minimize the total cavity length (round-trip time of ~30 ps) of the
ECL by butt-coupling the SLD to the PBR [1, 4]. As a result, the ratio of the ECL mode
spacing (~0.24 nm) to the PBR spectral bandwidth (which can be used as a figure of merit for
characterizing the achievable detuning) is designed to be ~1.
The ECL parameters related to the mode detuning are the peak wavelength of the external
reflector (denoted as λPBR) and the phase angle of the comb modes. However, when a
reflection occurs at the AR-coated facet, we should consider two phase angles, one (denoted
as φ2) of which is solely related to the phase condition of the ECL modes, and the other
(denoted as φ1) is related to both the phase condition of the ECL modes and the spectral
reflectivity seen by the gain medium (, i.e., “right reflectivity,” denoted as rR) [4]. The
dependence of the spectral reflectivity on the phase angle is related to the formation of an
etalon-like cavity mirror placed between the AR-coated facet and the PBR. The light reflected
from the PBR interferes with the parasitically reflected light at the AR-coated facet, and as a
result, the spectral shape of rR is distorted from that of the ideal grating reflectivity (blue
curve) to that of the effective reflectivity (red curve), as shown in Fig. 2(a). Thus, when φ1 is
monotonically adjusted, the reflectivity peak shows a cyclic movement between the higher
and lower detuned frequencies [4]. The importance of this reflectivity change is that the
achievable chirp by this tunable ECL is significantly influenced by φ1. Figures 2(b) through
2(d) show the rR for φ1 of 0°, 120°, and 180°, respectively. The corresponding LEFs achieved
by the detuned loading effect are represented through the blue curves [4]. The blue dots on
the curves denote the positions of the longer wavelength limits where the minimum LEFs for
the given phase angles are obtained. These positions of the stability limits are calculated by
applying a linear stability analysis to the model based on a transmission line description [4,
7]. It is notable that the global minimum LEF is obtained when φ1 = 0° (i.e., under the in-
phase condition). In the case of φ1 = 120°, where the peak of rR moves to the higher
frequency, the reduction of the LEF (from 5 to 2.22) is not sufficient for improving the long-
distance transmission performance [9]. When the out-of-phase condition (φ1 = 180°) is met,
the peak reflectivity is lowest, and the minimum LEF is located between the two former

#251414 Received 5 Oct 2015; revised 11 Nov 2015; accepted 11 Nov 2015; published 16 Nov 2015
© 2015 OSA 30 Nov 2015 | Vol. 23, No. 24 | DOI:10.1364/OE.23.030657 | OPTICS EXPRESS 30659
LEFs. Thus, owing to this drastic change in the minimum achievable LEF, a separate control
of each phase angle is indispensable.
Because the control of three different parameters (φ1, φ2, and λPBR) is required to obtain the
global minimum LEF, we should use three input variables to change these parameters. The
current injected to the PC heater, IPC, changes only the refractive index of the PC section
through a thermo-optic effect. Thus, it changes only φ1. The grating heater current, Igrating, is
basically used for adjusting the peak wavelength of the Bragg reflection. However, about half
of the grating section is included in the laser cavity, and thus, the change in the refractive
index also contributes to a varying φ1. The phase angle in the gain medium, φ2, can be
controlled only by changing the operating temperature of the ECL module, Tmodule, through a
thermo-electric cooler (TEC) placed below the entire butt-coupled module. Because Tmodule
affects all sections within the laser cavity, φ1 and λPBR are also influenced by it. It should be
noted that owing to these entangled dependencies of the ECL parameters, finding a detuning
method for a low chirp operation is not a simple task.
SLD PBR

rR rL
Device parameters
AR power ϕ1 : phase in passive region
HR power PBR power
ϕ2 : phase in active region
λPBR : peak wavelength of external reflector
PC section Grating section
Control variables
lin Lext IPC : ϕ1
ϕ2 ϕ1
Igrating : ϕ1 & λPBR
r1 r2 r3 Tmodule TModule : ϕ1 , ϕ2 & λPBR

TEC

Fig. 1. Schematic diagram of the polymer-based tunable ECL module and the device
parameters and control variables for detuning the lasing mode.

Table 1. ECL Model Parameters

Parameter Value Description

lin 400 μm Gain medium length
ng 3.56 Group refractive index
α 5 Linewidth enhancement factor
dg/dN 10.4 x 10-20 m2 Differential gain
dg/dP -1.2 x 10-3 m-1 Gain saturation factor
Γ 0.081 Confinement factor
αi 300 m-1 Internal loss in gain medium
r1 , r2 0.91/2, (2x10-4)1/2 Amplitude reflectivities of SLD facets
lWG, lPC, 0.3 mm, 0.5 mm, Lengths of input waveguide, PC and grating
lgr 3.5 mm sections in PBR, respectively
κ 150 m-1 Coupling coefficient of grating in PBR
CE 40% Coupling efficiency from SLD to PBR

#251414 Received 5 Oct 2015; revised 11 Nov 2015; accepted 11 Nov 2015; published 16 Nov 2015
© 2015 OSA 30 Nov 2015 | Vol. 23, No. 24 | DOI:10.1364/OE.23.030657 | OPTICS EXPRESS 30660
 0 0 10
Reflectivity of PBR
8
rR
-10 Cavity mirror -10 6
4
-20 -20 2
ϕ1 ↑

20*log|rR|
20*log|r|
α = 1.00 0

αeff
-30 -30 -2
-4
rR
-40 -40 αeff -6
-8
-50 -50 -10
-150 -100 -50 0 50 100 150 -50 -40 -30 -20 -10 0 10 20 30 40 50

Detuned frequency (GHz) Detuned frequency (GHz)

(a) (b)

0 10 0 10
8 8
-10 6 -10 6
4 4
-20 2 -20 2
20*log|rR|

20*log|rR|
α = 2.22 0 α = 1.72 0

αeff

αeff
-30 -2 -30 -2
-4 -4
rR rR
-40 αeff -6 -40 αeff -6
-8 -8
-50 -10 -50 -10
-50 -40 -30 -20 -10 0 10 20 30 40 50 -50 -40 -30 -20 -10 0 10 20 30 40 50

Detuned frequency (GHz) Detuned frequency (GHz)

(c) (d)

Fig. 2. (a) Simulated grating reflectivity (blue line), right reflectivity rR (red line), and
reflectivity of the cavity mirror (green line, not to scale) of the polymer-based tunable ECL as
a function of the detuned frequency, and rR, effective LEF, and minimum achievable LEF
(blue dot) at φ1 of (b) 0°, (c) 120°, and (d) 180°.

2.2 Output power

Because the output power is a promising candidate for a monitored signal of detuning, we
estimated the two powers emitted from each facet of the ECL numerically. Figure 3(a) shows
how the output powers are determined in the ECL when φ1 is swept at φ2 = 105°. Here, a φ1
sweep moves the comb modes of the ECL and corresponds to the PC current sweep during
the experiment. The red curve is the ratio of the PBR power to the AR power (i.e., power
from the AR-coated facet). The AR power is gradually attenuated through the imperfect
coupling between the SLD and the PBR, the waveguide loss in the PBR, and the reflection of
the Bragg grating as it passes through the PBR. Owing to the spectral shape of rR, this ratio
has the minimum value near the zero detuning. Contrary to this dependence, the AR power
has its maximum value near the zero detuning because a higher feedback by rR induces higher
AR power. The kink shown in AR power is due to the abrupt change in rR near the detuned
frequency of −2.4 GHz (i.e., from the flattened shape of Fig. 2(d) to the symmetric one of Fig.
2(c) with respect to zero detuned frequency). Because the PBR power is a product of these
two factors, the resulting frequency dependence of this power is very small, as shown in the
red line of Fig. 3(b). It is favorable to have a relatively small change of power in case it is
used as the output power of the ECL, although as a monitored signal for detuning, this is
inappropriate. In contrast, the HR power (blue line) experiences a drastic power change
because two factors (i.e., AR power and rR) determining this power have a similar spectral
dependence. In addition, the blue line in Fig. 3(b) shows that the HR power monotonically
decreases as the lasing mode is detuned toward the longer wavelength region. Thus, it is

#251414 Received 5 Oct 2015; revised 11 Nov 2015; accepted 11 Nov 2015; published 16 Nov 2015
© 2015 OSA 30 Nov 2015 | Vol. 23, No. 24 | DOI:10.1364/OE.23.030657 | OPTICS EXPRESS 30661
better to choose the HR power rather than the PBR power as a monitored signal owing to its
larger and monotonic power variation during detuning.

0.40 19.70 6.00 0.240

5.95 0.225
PBR power / AR power 0.39 19.60
5.90 0.210

PBR power (mW)

HR power (mW)
AR power (mW)
0.38 19.50
5.85 0.195

5.80 0.180
0.37 19.40
Power through PBR
5.75 Power through HR-coated facet 0.165
0.36 19.30
5.70 0.150

0.35 5.65 0.135

-25 -20 -15 -10 -5 0 5 10 15 -25 -20 -15 -10 -5 0 5 10 15

Detuned frequency (GHz) Detuned frequency (GHz)

(a) (b)

Fig. 3. Simulated results for (a) the ratio of power through the PBR to the power through the
AR-coated facet and the absolute value of the latter, and (b) the resulting PBR and HR power
as a function of the detuned frequency (@ φ2 = 105°).

3. Experiment
To develop a detuning method for a low-chirp operation experimentally, we fabricated a
polymer-based tunable ECL and evaluated its detuning characteristics. We first compared the
variations of the PBR and HR powers with the wavelength shift of the lasing mode to confirm
their suitability as a monitored signal. We then measured the peak HR power gathered during
the PC current sweep, and the power penalty after the transmission over the 20-km long
SSMF as functions of the wavelength and operating temperature. Finally, we utilized this
method to obtain the trajectory of the minimum-chirp condition that can be used to control the
wavelength of the tunable ECL.
3.1 Fabrication
A high-speed SLD having a tapered waveguide structure was utilized in the ECL [8]. The
gain medium supports a large modulation bandwidth of over 10 Gb/s, and the laterally
tapered waveguide reduces the far field angle of the SLD in the horizontal and vertical
directions to < 20°. To reduce the facet reflection to a negligible level, AR-coating was
applied to the 9°-tilted facet and a high-reflection coating was applied to the other facet.
The PBR was implemented by engraving a 3.5-mm long fifth-order Bragg grating on a 5-
μm x 5-μm waveguide core [1]. The resulting reflectivity and spectral bandwidth were 21%
and 0.24 nm, respectively. A metal heater was deposited on the upper cladding layer of the
grating section to change the refractive index through the thermo-optic effect. To realize the
PC section, another 0.5-mm long heater was deposited on the waveguide portion without a
grating. The PBR also had tilted facets on both sides to minimize the reflection. The output of
the ECL was coupled through a pigtailed fiber, and the power through the HR-coated facet
was measured by placing the monitor photodiode at the backside of the SLD.
The SLD and PBR were butt-coupled to minimize the round-trip time of the photon for
high-speed operation. Figure 4 shows a photograph of the UV-cured tunable ECL module.
The operating temperature of this module was monitored using a thermistor mounted on a
silicon plate and controlled through a thermo-electric cooler placed below the entire module.
The tunable ECL has a threshold current of between 6 and 10 mA depending on the
degree of detuning, and the output power is ~5 mW at 50 mA. To obtain a tuning range of 16
nm (from 1547 to 1531 nm), a grating heater power of about 85 mW is needed.

#251414 Received 5 Oct 2015; revised 11 Nov 2015; accepted 11 Nov 2015; published 16 Nov 2015
© 2015 OSA 30 Nov 2015 | Vol. 23, No. 24 | DOI:10.1364/OE.23.030657 | OPTICS EXPRESS 30662
 PBR Output
Si plate

High-speed SLD
Grating heater

Phase control heater

Fig. 4. Photograph of the butt-coupled tunable ECL.

3.2 Two output powers of tunable ECL

To choose a more appropriate monitored signal experimentally, we measured the PBR and
HR powers during the current sweep on the phase control heater. We obtained another sweep
curve by changing the sweep direction to check the existence of a hysteresis region [4]. In this
measurement, part of the PBR power was used for a spectrum analysis, and the HR power
was monitored by a photodiode placed near the HR-coated facet. To take into account the
effect of the large signal modulation on the stable operation region, we also applied a 9.953-
Gb/s modulation signal with a modulation depth, Vpp, of 3.4 V at a bias current of 70 mA [4].
The extinction ratio was measured to be ~6 dB under these conditions. The results in Fig. 5
show that the hysteresis region, generated by a nonlinear gain, nearly disappears owing to the
chirp-induced mode hopping at the boundary of the stable operation region [4, 7, 10–13].
Thus, we can obtain only one detuned state for the given PC current under this large
modulation depth.
As estimated in section 2.2, the variation of the PBR power during detuning was very
small (<5%) and at a longer wavelength region, the power was not as monotonically changed
as the wavelength. On the contrary, the photodiode current (which is proportional to HR
power) shows about a 67% variation and a large power jump is induced when the mode-
hopping occurs. As a result, we choose the HR power as a monitored signal for detuning.

1547.60 0.82 1547.60 Im-PD

240
Wavelength Power Wavelength
Decreasing PC current Decreasing PC current Decreasing PC current Decreasing PC current
Increasing PC current Increasing PC current Increasing PC current Increasing PC current
1547.55 0.80 1547.55 220
PBR power (mW)
Wavelength (nm)

Wavelength (nm)

1547.50 0.78 1547.50 200

PD current (μA)
1547.45 0.76 1547.45 180

1547.40 0.74 1547.40 160

1547.35 0.72 1547.35 140

1547.30 0.70 1547.30 120

0 1 2 3 4 0 1 2 3 4
Phase Control Power (mW) Phase Control Power (mW)

(a) (b)

Fig. 5. Comparison of the measured lasing wavelength of the tunable ECL with power through
the (a) PBR and (b) HR-coated facet when a 9.953-Gb/s modulation signal with a modulation
depth of Vpp = 3.4V is applied at a bias current of 70 mA.

3.3 PC current sweep

Because the PC current is the only input variable controlling the phase angle (φ1) without
affecting the peak wavelength of the PBR, we utilized this current to achieve a longer
wavelength detuning. It should be noted that we can obtain the global minimum-chirp

#251414 Received 5 Oct 2015; revised 11 Nov 2015; accepted 11 Nov 2015; published 16 Nov 2015
© 2015 OSA 30 Nov 2015 | Vol. 23, No. 24 | DOI:10.1364/OE.23.030657 | OPTICS EXPRESS 30663
condition (a longer wavelength limit when φ1 = 0°, as shown in Fig. 2(b)) by appreciating its
characteristic behavior in power. Figure 6(a) shows typical PC current sweep curves
measured at different grating heater currents. The shapes of the power variations are similar
to each other, but the peak powers are different. The reason for this behavior is that the
starting phase angles of φ1 are different for each curve owing to the change in the peak
wavelength of the PBR, and thus the peak power, determined at the peak reflectivity during
the detuning, and consequently located near the zero detuning, is changed. Accordingly, the
peak position of the magenta line in Fig. 6(a) corresponds to φ1 = 0°. A more comprehensive
plot is drawn in Fig. 6(b) where only the peak values of the photodiode currents during a PC
current sweep are shown as functions of the wavelength and operating temperature, Tmodule.
We show one axis of this figure using a more significant lasing wavelength instead of the
grating heater current. We can clearly see the cyclic behavior of the peak photodiode current
to the directions of the wavelength and temperature axes.

78

85 76
80

80 74

Peak PD Current (μ A)
75
72
75
PD Current (μA)

70
Igrating 70
70 0.00 mA
65
3.45 mA 68
65 4.90 mA
6.00 mA 60
66
6.95 mA
60 7.75 mA
55 64
8.50 mA
30
55 9.15 mA
9.80 mA 1548 62
10.40 mA 25 1547
50
60
1546
0.0 2.0 4.0 6.0 8.0
o 20 1545
Phase Control Power (mW) Tmodule ( C) Wavelength (nm)

(a) (b)

Fig. 6. (a) Typical HR power curves while sweeping the phase control current (shown in
applied power) with ten different grating heater currents, Igrating, and (b) a surface plot drawn
using the peak values of the HR power during a phase control current sweep as functions of the
wavelength (converted from the grating heater current) and operating temperature, Tmodule.

3.4 Transmission performances

We measured the transmission performances to find a method for obtaining the minimum-
chirp conditions from the PC current sweep curves. The tunable ECL was directly modulated
at 9.953 Gb/s with a pattern length of 231-1, and its bit-error ratio (BER) curves were
measured over 20-km long SSMF. We set the bias and modulation currents of the ECL to 50
mA and 59 mAp-p, respectively. The extinction ratio was measured as ~6 dB under these
conditions, and an APDFET receiver with a sensitivity of −23.5 dBm (@ BER of 10−12) was
used for the signal detection. Figure 7(a) shows longer wavelength detuned power penalties
for various Igrating values with the temperature fixed at 25°C. The corresponding peak values
of the photodiode current during each PC current sweep are also shown in the figure. The
power penalties were measured at a BER of 10−4, over which an error floor was not observed.
It should be noted that the shapes of these two curves are very similar to each other, which is
due to about a 180° change in φ1 when the lasing mode is detuned from the peak HR power
position to a longer wavelength limit. For example, in the case of the minimum power
penalty, the optimum in-phase condition (shown in Fig. 2(b)) between the lights reflected
from the PBR and the AR-coated facet is met at the longer wavelength limit, despite these
lights becoming out-of-phase (shown in Fig. 2(d)) near the zero detuning where the maximum
HR power is obtained. Thus, we can obtain the optimal values of the grating heater current
and the operating temperature from the conditions of the PC current sweep curve with the

#251414 Received 5 Oct 2015; revised 11 Nov 2015; accepted 11 Nov 2015; published 16 Nov 2015
© 2015 OSA 30 Nov 2015 | Vol. 23, No. 24 | DOI:10.1364/OE.23.030657 | OPTICS EXPRESS 30664
minimum peak power. The operating conditions of the PC current can be obtained from the
results shown in Fig. 7(b). Because small fluctuating peaks of the shorter-wavelength mode
usually appear at a nominal longer wavelength detuning limit (i.e., the position of the
minimum HR power on each PC sweep curve in Fig. 6(a)) owing to the chirp-induced mode
hopping, a small offset value should be added to avoid an error floor [4]. Based on three HR
power data (i.e., data having the lowest power penalties), as shown in Fig. 7(b), it should be
noted that the optimum conditions are attained when we increase the HR power to 20% by
adjusting the PC current. We can obtain the side-mode suppression ratio of >40dB by this
adjustment. We confirmed the validity of this method by applying it to fixed wavelength
measurements, as shown in Figs. 7(c) and 7(d). Similar shifts in the power penalty and peak
HR power were also obtained.

9 82 84

80
8 -4
80 PD current @ BER measurement
20 km power penalty @ BER 10
76

Peak PD Current (μA)

Max. PD current
Power Penalty (dB)

Peak PD current
7 78 Min. PD current

PD Current (μA)
72
6 76 68

5 74 64

60
4 72
56
3 70
52

2 68 48
1546.0 1546.2 1546.4 1546.6 1546.8 1547.0 1547.2 1546.0 1546.2 1546.4 1546.6 1546.8 1547.0 1547.2

Wavelength (nm) Wavelength (nm)

(a) (b)
12 84
78 PD current @ BER measurement
80 Max. PD current
10
Peak PD Current (μA)

Min. PD current
76
Power Penalty (dB)

76
PD Current (μA)

8 72
74
68
6
64
72
4 60
70
56
2 -4
20 km power penalty @ BER 10 52
Peak PD current 68
0 48
20.0 22.0 24.0 26.0 28.0 30.0 20 22 24 26 28 30
o o
Tmodule ( C) Tmodule ( C)
(c) (d)

Fig. 7. (a) Longer wavelength detuned power penalties (red line) and peak HR powers (blue
line) and (b) the maximum (blue line with circle) and minimum (blue line with diamond) HR
powers during a PC current sweep, and the optimal HR power (red line) obtained at a constant
operating temperature, Tmodule, and (c) longer wavelength detuned power penalties (red line)
and peak HR powers (blue line) and (d) the maximum (blue line with circle) and minimum
(blue line with diamond) HR powers during a PC current sweep, and the optimal HR power
(red line) obtained at a constant wavelength of 1545.5 nm.

To achieve a tunable laser, it is important to obtain this minimum-chirp operation at all

available wavelengths. Thus, we monitored the trajectory of the minimum-chirp condition by
using the current detuning method while tuning the operating wavelength. This trajectory had
a wavelength dependence of ~6.5°C/nm, and another trajectory appeared with a separation of
~0.85 nm, as shown in Fig. 8. This trend was observed throughout the available tuning range.
The reason for this dependence is that the change in φ1 induced by the variation in the
operating temperature compensates for the change induced by the grating heater. We can
obtain a lasing mode with minimum chirp at the exact target wavelength by integrating this
detuning method with a wavelength-locking algorithm. For example, after determining
minimum-chirp condition near the target wavelength, the lasing mode is fine-tuned following

#251414 Received 5 Oct 2015; revised 11 Nov 2015; accepted 11 Nov 2015; published 16 Nov 2015
© 2015 OSA 30 Nov 2015 | Vol. 23, No. 24 | DOI:10.1364/OE.23.030657 | OPTICS EXPRESS 30665
the minimum-chirp trajectory by controlling the operating temperature and grating heater
current. Here, the PC heater current is adjusted to the value where the photodiode current is
same. The next trajectory can be used in case the change in the operating temperature is too
much.

28 78
2.8dB
27 76

2.7dB 2.7dB 3.0dB

74
26

72
Tmodule ( C) 25 2.5dB
70
o

2.8dB 2.7dB
24
68
2.5dB 2.2dB
23
3.1dB 2.5dB 66

22
2.9dB 2.3dB 2.5dB 64

21 2.7dB 2.3dB 62

20 3.5dB 2.6dB
60
1545.5 1546 1546.5 1547 1547.5
Wavelength (nm)

Fig. 8. Peak HR powers (contour plot) and some power penalties (at circled conditions)
obtained after a transmission over 20-km long SSMF to demonstrate the wavelength and
operating temperature dependences of the minimum-chirp conditions.

4. Summary
We developed a simple detuning method for the minimum-chirp operation of a tunable ECL,
capable of being directly modulated at 10 Gb/s. The proposed method starts by choosing the
optimal conditions of the grating heater current and the operating temperature. For this
purpose, we measured the variations in HR power while sweeping the current applied to the
PC heater for various combinations of these two variables. Under the optimized conditions,
the ECL showed the lowest peak HR power because the feedback light from the PBR was
out-of-phase with the light reflected parasitically from the AR-coated facet of the gain
medium, whereas these lights were in-phase when the lasing mode reached the longer
wavelength limit. This was due to the change in the phase difference between these lights
occurred during the sweep. We finally achieved the minimum-chirp operation by detuning the
lasing mode to the longer wavelength limit of the stable operation region, where the HR
power was about 20% larger than the value measured at the minimum power position. To
check the possibility of integrating a wavelength-locking algorithm with this detuning
method, we measured the wavelength dependence of the minimum-chirp conditions. The
results indicated that we could operate the ECL under the minimum-chirp conditions at all
available wavelengths owing to the periodic appearance of this condition with a wavelength
dependence of ~6.5°C/nm. The long-term stability of this ECL can be ensured by using the
wavelength-locking technique integrated with the proposed detuning method. Thus, by using
the proposed method, we could utilize a polymer-based tunable ECL as a low-cost light
source for providing >10-Gb/s service to each subscriber in the next-generation passive
optical network.
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by the ICT R&D program of MSIP/IITP. [B0101150021,
Development of key technologies for flexible optical nodes based on software-defined
network (SDN) and B0101151346, Development of Port-agnostic optical transceiver for
Metro-SDN].

#251414 Received 5 Oct 2015; revised 11 Nov 2015; accepted 11 Nov 2015; published 16 Nov 2015
© 2015 OSA 30 Nov 2015 | Vol. 23, No. 24 | DOI:10.1364/OE.23.030657 | OPTICS EXPRESS 30666