Broadband and high-speed swept external-cavity laser using a quantum-dot superluminescent diode as gain device

A wide wavelength tuning range swept external-cavity laser using an In As/Ga As quantum-dot superluminescent diode as a gain device is demonstrated. The tunable filter consists of a polygon scanner and a grating in Littrow telescope-less configuration. The swept laser generates greater than 54-m W peak output power and up to 33-k Hz sweep rate with a sweep range of 150 nm centered at 1155 nm. The effects of injection current and sweep rate on the sweep performance of the swept laser are studied.