Near-IR tunable laser with an integrated LiTaO_3 electro-optic deflector

We report the successful demonstration of a near-IR tunable laser (1525.4-1558.2 nm) that uses an integrated LiTaO3 deflector in combination with a reflection grating as an electronically tunable filter. The electro-optic deflector is a unique integrated optical device and consists of a horn-shaped array of electro-optic prisms in series. The almost 33 nm of tuning covers a wavelength region of high interest to the communications industry (1527-1550 nm).