Resonant pumped erbium-doped waveguide lasers using distributed Bragg reflector cavities

This Letter reports on an optical pumping scheme, termed resonant pumping, for an erbium-doped distributed feedback (DFB) waveguide laser. The scheme uses two mirrors on either side of the DFB laser, forming a pump cavity that recirculates the unabsorbed pump light. Symmetric distributed Bragg reflectors are used as the mirrors and are designed by matching the external and internal quality factors of the cavity. Experimental demonstration shows lasing at an optical communication wavelength of around 1560 nm and an improvement of 1.8 times in the lasing efficiency, when the DFB laser is pumped on-resonance.