High power gain-switched laser diode using a superfast GaAs avalanche transistor for pumping

Multiwatt single picosecond optical pulses were generated by gain-switched laser diodes using for pumping a superfast GaAs switch, which produces 1–10A current pulses with a duration comparable to the lasing delay. Good quantitative agreement was found between the measured and simulated optical responses and time-resolved spectra when lasing occurred before the trailing edge of the current pulse, while the measured single optical pulse generated near the trailing edge drastically exceeded that in the simulations. This difference is attributed to the effect of additional population of the quantum well by carriers accumulating earlier in the optical confinement region.