Modulation characteristics of an integrated three-section master oscillator power amplifier at 1.5 μm

High brightness semiconductor laser sources with modulation capacity are emerging candidates for an increasing number of applications. We have recently presented an integrated three section Master Oscillator Power Amplifier (MOPA) [1] to be used in space-borne Random Modulated Continuous Wave (RM-CW) Integrated Path Differential Absorption (IPDA) lidar systems for atmospheric CO
₂
detection [2]. The application requires a stable single-mode emission spectrum, high power and beam quality, together with internal modulation capacity at 25 Mb/s.