ABSTRACT

This chapter focuses on the theoretical development and experimental study of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) injection-locked laser (ILL), which employs two laser chips, one as the master laser to lock the state of the other, the slave laser. The role of MEMS is to provide an integration platform and tuning elements for easy adjustment and control of the locking states. Chapters 6 and 7 provide a technological base for the ILL device from the standpoints of MEMS laser designs and wavelength-tuning methods. From the engineering point of view, the two types of tunable lasers developed in previous chapters are stand-alone devices; each uses only one laser chip. In contrast, the ILL device consists of two lasers. From the physical point of view, the ILL device is more complicated as it has to take into account many laser modes and their interactions, which are not necessary with the previously mentioned lasers.