Single-mode Semiconductor Reference Oscillator Development for Coherent Detection Optical Remote Sensing Applications
High power single mode, tunable, narrow linewidth semiconductor lasers in the 2.05-μm wavelength region are needed for coherent detection optical remote sensing applications. 2.05-μm Fabry Perot (FP) and distributed feedback (DFB) ridge waveguide lasers fabricated from epitaxially grown InGaAsSb/AlGaAsSb/GaSb and InGaAs/InP hetero-structures are reported. This work is part of a NASA Earth Science Enterprise Advanced Technology Initiatives Program research effort to develop semiconductor laser reference oscillators for optical remote sensing from Earth orbit. In particular, local oscillators provide the frequency reference required for active spaceborne optical remote sensing concepts that use heterodyne (coherent) detection. The two most prominent Earth observation applications for this technology are Doppler LIDAR wind sensing and tropospheric carbon dioxide measurement by laser absorption spectrometry, the currently favored operational wavelength for both of which is 2.05 μm.