Key Takeaways & Executive Findings
- •• A GaSb-based two-section integrated optical chip operating at ~2 μm was designed and fabricated, demonstrating stable mode-locked operation. • The chip exhibits both near-optical soliton and multi-peak optical soliton states, confirmed by numerical fitting with fourth-order soliton solutions. • This work provides the first evidence of soliton generation in GaSb-based two-section integrated lasers, expanding their potential for near-mid infrared applications. • The results pave the way for high-performance integrated optical comb chips and advanced photonic devices in gas sensing, communications, and infrared countermeasures.
Abstract
The optical soliton characteristics of GaSb-based ~2 μm wavelength integrated optical chips have broad application prospects in optoelectronic fields such as optical communications, infrared countermeasures, and gas environment monitoring. In the research of two-section integrated optical chips, more attention is paid to their passive mode-locked characteristics. The ability of its structure to generate stable soliton transmission has not yet been studied, which will limit its further application in high-performance near-mid infrared optoelectronic technology. In this paper, we design and prepare a GaSb-based ~2 μm wavelength two-section integrated semiconductor laser chip structure, and test and analyze its related properties of soliton, including power−injection current−voltage (P−I−V), temperature and mode-locked characteristics. Experimental results show that the chip can achieve stable mode-locked operation at nearly ~2 μm wavelength and present the working characteristics of near optical soliton states and multi-peak optical soliton states. By comparing and analyzing the measured optical pulse sequence curve with the numerical fitting based on the pure fourth order soliton approximation solution, it is confirmed that the two-section integrated optical chip structure can generate stable transmission of multi-peak optical soliton. This provides a research direction for developing near-mid infrared mode-locked integrated optical chips with high-performance property of optical soliton.
1. Introduction
Semiconductor lasers, as key devices in optoelectronic fields such as optical communication, optical fiber sensing and laser radar, have attracted much attention due to their compactness, high efficiency and easy integration. With the rapid development of optical communication and optical information processing technology, the demand for mid-infrared (MIR) wavelength laser source is growing. Among them, a wavelength of ~2 μm is close to the near-mid infrared spectral regions and has broad application prospects in the fields of gas detection, medical cosmetology, optical fiber communication, lidar, infrared countermeasure, optical detection of eye safety and national defense and military. GaSb-based materials have the advantages of narrow band gap, high mobility, high radiation recombination efficiency and good lattice matching, and are considered to be the ideal materials for preparing ~2 μm wavelength near-mid infrared semiconductor lasers.
Optical solitons, as a special form of laser pulses, exhibit characteristics such as self-focusing, self-phase modulation, and timing sequence stability. The widespread applications have been found in ultra-fast and ultra-long-haul optical communication system signal processing, high-sensitivity spectral analysis, and high-precision long-distance ranging. However, semiconductor lasers based on traditional single straight ridge structure have obvious limitations in mode-locked, soliton generation ability and soliton output stability. The two-section or multi-section integrated structure provides a new technical way to solve this problem. The sectioned integration structure increases the design and control flexibility of optical chip integration, causing it possible to integrate multiple functions into a single optical chip. Semiconductor laser chips with two-section integration structure have attracted considerable attention for their compactness, high efficiency, stable electrical pumping, passive mode-locking, and high repetition rate optical pulse sequence. Although there have been a lot of studies on GaSb-based semiconductor lasers and two-section integrated semiconductor lasers, there are no reports on whether GaSb-based ~2 μm wavelength two-section integrated optical chips can produce optical soliton states or near-optical soliton states.
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Wenjun Yu, Zhongliang Qiao, Xiang Li, Jia Xu Brian Sia, Dengqun Weng, Xiaohu Hou, Zaijin Li, Lin Li, Hao Chen, Zhibin Zhao, Yi Qu, Chongyang Liu, Hong Wang, Yu Zhang, Zhichuan Niu (2025). Research on Optical Soliton Characteristics of GaSb-Based ~2 μm Wavelength Two-Section Integrated Optical Chip. Journal of Semiconductors (半导体学报 - 中国科学院半导体研究所). https://doi.org/10.1088/1674-4926/25030011
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is the significance of this research on GaSb-based optical chips?
This research demonstrates that GaSb-based two-section integrated optical chips operating at ~2 μm can generate stable optical solitons, which is crucial for advancing near-mid infrared photonic technologies such as high-speed optical communications, gas sensing, and infrared countermeasures.
How were optical solitons achieved in the two-section integrated chip?
The chip was designed with a two-section structure that enables passive mode-locking. By carefully controlling the injection current and temperature, the chip produced stable mode-locked pulses that exhibited near-optical soliton and multi-peak soliton states, confirmed by numerical fitting with fourth-order soliton solutions.
What are the potential applications of this technology?
The technology can be applied in optical communication systems, gas environment monitoring, infrared countermeasures, and integrated optical comb sources, benefiting from the compactness and efficiency of semiconductor lasers.
What are the key characteristics of the fabricated chip?
The chip operates at ~2 μm wavelength, shows stable mode-locked operation, and exhibits both near-optical soliton and multi-peak soliton states. It also demonstrates good P-I-V characteristics and temperature stability.
How does this research contribute to the field of integrated photonics?
This work provides the first evidence of soliton generation in GaSb-based two-section integrated lasers, opening new avenues for developing high-performance near-mid infrared integrated optical chips and optical frequency comb sources.
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