32 wavelength tunable mode-locked laser with 100 GHz channel spacing using an arrayed waveguide grating

We demonstrate a discretely tunable mode-locked laser (time-to-wavelength mapped laser) consisting of a 32 wavelength silica-on-silicon planar lightwave circuit arrayed waveguide grating and an integrated electro-absorption modulator/semiconductor optical amplifier. The AWG is used to form a wavelength-dependent delay circuit to allow the oscillation wavelength to be selected by varying the modelocking frequency. The wavelength range is 1535.5-1560.5 nm, the wavelength spacing is 100 GHz, and the repetition rate is in the 10 GHz regime.