We have proposed and demonstrated a mode selective active-MMI (multimode interferometer) laser diode as a mode selective light source so far. This laser diode features; 1) lasing at a selected space mode, and 2) high modulation bandwidth. Based on these, it is expected to enable high speed interconnection into future personal and mobile devices. In this paper, we explain the mode selection, and the high speed modulation principles. Then, we present our recent results concerning high speed frequency response of the fundamental and first order space modes.

1 × N active multi-mode interferometer laser diode (MMI LD) is proposed and demonstrated to realize single-wavelength edge-emitter without using grating configuration. As the 1 × N active-MMI LDs are based on longitudinal mode interference, they have a potential of single-wavelength emission without incorporating any grating layer on/beneath active layer. The fabricated devices showed single-wavelength emission with a side mode suppression ratio (SMSR) of 12dB at a wavelength of 1.57µm.

We newly propose the first lateral mode selective active multimode interferometer laser diode. The design principle is to arrange identical propagation path of different lateral mode. Thanks to multimode waveguide structure, 0th mode and 1st order mode has individual propagation path within one device. Individual lasing of fundamental mode as well as first mode was confirmed successfully.

A novel shuffle converter by using 3D waveguide of MCF (multi-core fiber)/SMF (single mode fiber) ribbon fan-in fan-out configuration towards over 1,000 port count optical matrix switch has been proposed. The shuffle converter enables to avoid waveguide crossing section in the optical matrix switch configuration, and the principle device showed sufficient crosstalk of less than -54.2 dB, and insertion loss of 2.1 dB successfully.

We present dynamic mode switching characteristic by using a 2 × 2 optical mode switch based on silicon waveguide. The configuration of optical mode switch is similar to MZI where the width of input and output ports are designed to permit the combining of the fundamental mode and the first order mode. We designed the symmetrical arms with phase shifter based on p-i-n structure in one arm to generate a π-phase difference between each arm. As a result, mode switching with the injection current of 60mA (5.7V) was successfully achieved with the mode crosstalk of -10dB at λ=1550nm. A minimum of less than 60ns and 40ns mode switching time for the fundamental mode to first order mode and first order mode to fundamental mode, was achieved respectively in this time.

We have proposed and demonstrated the principle of optical mode switch. However, the crosstalk between modes has not yet reported due to the difficulty of mode recognition and distinction. To accomplish this mode crosstalk evaluation, we integrated multimode interference (MMI) mode filter with the optical mode switch in this work. As a result, for the both TE and TM modes, the crosstalk of approximately -10 dB has been evaluated experimentally.

Laser diode capable of high speed direct modulation is one of the key solution for short distance applications due to their low power consumption, low cost and small size features. Realization of high modulation bandwidth for direct modulated laser maintaining the above mentioned feature is needed to enhance the short distance, low cost data transmission. One promising approach to enhance the modulation speed is to increase the photon density to achieve high modulation bandwidth. So to achieve this target, 1.55 $mu$m InGaAsP/InGaAsP multiple quantum well (MQW) asymmetric active multimode interferometer laser diode (active MMI-LD) has been demonstrated [1]. The split pumping concept has been applied for the active MMI-LD and significant enhancement of electrical to optical 3 dB down frequency bandwidth (f$_{mathrm{3dB}})$ up to 8 GHz has been successfully confirmed. The reported high bandwidth for split pump active MMI-LD is around 3.5 times higher than the previously reported maximum 3 dB bandwidth (2.3 GHz) of active MMI-LD without split pumping section. That shows, the splitted multimode pumping section behind the electrically isolated modulation section can potentially improve the modulation bandwidth of active MMI-LD. Clear and open eye diagram had also been confirmed for 2.5 Gbps, (2$^{mathrm{7}}$-1) pseudo random bit sequence (PRBS) modulation.

As a low-cost optical transceiver for access network systems, we propose a new monolithic transceiver photonic integrated circuit (PIC) fabricated by bandgap energy controlled selective metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy (MOVPE). In the PIC, all optical components are monolithically integrated. Thus, the number of optical alignment points is significantly reduced and the assembly costs of the module is decreased compared to those of hybrid modules, that use silica waveguides. Moreover, by using selective MOVPE, extremely low-loss buried heterostructure waveguides can be fabricated without any etching. In-plane bandgap energy control is also possible, allowing the formation of active and passive core layers simultaneously without complicated fabrication. The transceiver PIC showed fiber-coupled output power of more than 1 mW and receiver bandwidth of 7 GHz. Modulation and detection operations at 500 Mb/s were also demonstrated. As a cost effective fabrication technique for monolithic PICs, bandgap energy controlled selective MOVPE is a promising candidate.

The fabricated 1.55 µm high power superluminescent light emitting diodes (SLEDs) with 115 mW maximum output power and 3 dB bandwidth of 50 nm, using active multi-mode interferometer (MMI), showed high coupling efficiency of 66% into single-mode fiber, which resulted in maximum fiber-coupled power of 77 mW.

This paper reports a single dimensional mode based multiplexer / de-multiplexer using the slab waveguide to realize high modes multiplexing and high integration in the non-MIMO (multi-in multi-out) multimode transmission system. A sufficient mode crosstalk of -20 dB was obtained by selecting suitable parameters of the spacing between the connecting positions of each arrayed waveguide Di, the radius slab waveguide R0 and lateral V-parameter.