Tunable microwave, millimeter-wave and THz signal generation with a 1310nm quantum dot laser

Tunable microwave (MW), millimeter-wave (MMW) and THz signal generation with frequencies ranging from below 1 GHz to 1 THz are demonstrated experimentally with a 1310-nm Quantum Dot (QD) Distributed-Feedback (DFB) laser. Continuously tunable MW signals from below 1 GHz to over 40 GHz are produced using the period-1 dynamics induced in the QD DFB laser when subject to optical injection into its lasing mode. In addition, we report a novel technique for MMW and THz signal generation which is based on the dual-mode laser operation and Four-Wave-Mixing induced in the QD DFB laser under single-beam optical injection into one of its residual Fabry-Perot modes. Coarse and fine frequency tunability of the generated MMW and THz signals from 117 GHz to 954 GHz is also demonstrated experimentally. The simplicity of the experimental configuration used in this work offers promise for novel uses of QD lasers as MW, MMW and THz signal sources for Radio-over-Fiber (RoF) applications and future mobile communication networks.