Silicon photonics-based laser system for high performance fiber sensing

We present a compact four-laser source based on low-noise, high-bandwidth Pound-Drever-Hall method and optical phase-locked loops for sensing narrow spectral features. Four semiconductor external cavity lasers in butterfly packages are mounted on a shared electronics control board and all other optical functions are integrated on a single silicon photonics chip. This high performance source is compact, automated, robust, operates over a wide temperature range and remains locked for days. A laser to resonance frequency noise of 0.25 Hz/rt-Hz is demonstrated.