High Power 980 nm Ridge Waveguide Laser in Single Mode Fiber Coupled Package

Rapid progress in strained quantum well InGaAs/AlGaAs laser diodes has led to the wide acceptance of 980 nm diodes as potential pump sources for Er3+-doped fiber amplifiers (EDFA). In particular, ridge waveguides have proven to be ideal structures for such devices[1,2], promising ease of manufacture, and potentially high reliability[3]. In this paper, we report high coupled power from ridge waveguide lasers into large NA single-mode fiber designed for use in EDFA systems, using an industry-standard 14-pin DIL package outline. We also report systems performance obtained using these lasers as the pump source in a broad-band EDFA power amplifier.