Unidirectional operation in a semiconductor ring diode laser

We report the first demonstration of a unidirectional ring diode laser based on the use of an active crossover waveguide. The crossover waveguide introduces both a nonreciprocal loss and gain into the ring cavity to promote unidirectional lasing in the clockwise ring direction. Up to 95% of the continuous-wave lasing output of 3.5 mW (at 150 mA ring current) is emitted from this preferred lasing direction. Unidirectional operation of the ring diode laser is also shown to increase the linearity of the light-vs-current curves, eliminating kinks otherwise occurring from gain competition in the ring cavity.