Narrow-linewidth asymmetric cladding distributed Bragg reflector semiconductor lasers at 850 nm

Narrow-linewidth ridge-waveguide distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) single quantum well lasers for spectroscopic applications have been demonstrated. These devices, which were fabricated in the AlGaAs-GaAs material system, use an asymmetric cladding and a first-order surface grating to realize single-mode operation in the range from 850 to 860 nm. To our knowledge, these devices contain the shortest period surface etched gratings DBRs to date, demonstrating spectral linewidth values lower than 40 kHz.