Deeply-etched DBR gratings for photonics integrated circuits and tunable lasers

Deeply-etched DBR gratings are versatile components for application in Photonic Integrated Circuits. A fabrication technology was developed that allows integration of deeply-etched DBR mirrors with other active and passive components on an InP chip. As a demonstration of the many applications of the DBR mirrors a novel discretely tunable laser based on filtered feedback is presented. The laser has a simple tuning method and the potentially sub-ns switching speed makes the device promising for packet-switching applications. Because of the simple control scheme, the device also has potential for low-cost applications like metro- and access networks.