Integrated Low Linewidth Tunable Laser Navy SBIR FY2010.3 Sol No.: Navy SBIR FY2010.3 Topic No.: N103-219 Topic Title: Integrated Low Linewidth Tunable Laser Proposal No.: N103-219-0060 Firm: Freedom Photonics LLC 90 Dean Arnold Place Santa Barbara, California 93117 Contact: Leif Johansson Phone: (805) 277-3031 Web Site: www.freedomphotonics.com Abstract: This proposal seeks to build build a widely tunable laser (>20 nm tuning) with the phase noise performance sufficient for use with existing fiber optic interferometer hydrophone sensors on Virginia Class Submarines. In Phase I, we propose to conduct a feasibility study of modifying a widely tunable laser design to achieve low linewidth. Monolithic Photonic Integrated Circuit (PICs) technology has great potential to provide the most compact, efficient, and lightweight widely tunable lasers. With the integration of many functional blocks for light generation, tuning, and modulation on a single chip, one gains performance improvements with removed insertion losses, reduction of optoelectronic component count, and enhanced temperature and vibration stability. An integrated device can be placed in a very small footprint with very low packaging complexity. Freedom Photonics proposes in this work to develop a new type of low phase noise tunable semiconductor lasers based on our new integration platform, which allows for high laser output power, low coupling losses, and low propagation losses. Benefits: A great number of other applications within the Department of Defense focus on sensors and optical data links that would benefit from the improved transmitters developed in this work. Widely-tunable chips-scale lasers are a really attractive solution, as they can alleviate sparing requirements for sensor arrays, or possibly be used as a single source in wavelength multiplexed arrays with sufficient tuning speed. Return