A tunable laser diode with a photothermally driven integrated cantilever and related properties

This paper proposes a photothermally driven tunable laser diode (LD). We demonstrate a micromechanically tunable structure using an edge-emitting LD, a trial fabrication for a monolithic integration with a cantilever and LDs, an enhanced design for widening the wavelength tuning range, and wavelength variation experiments. We describe the design of an antireflection layer and a bimorph layer structure cantilever and expect the deflection to exceed half a wavelength by the temperature increase of 100/spl deg/C. We also confirm a 23-nm wavelength variation by changing the external-cavity length of the LD, which features an antireflection coating on the LD facet facing the external mirror.