312-fs pulse generation from a passive C-band InAs/InP quantum dot mode-locked laser

For the first time, we report femtosecond pulses from a passive single-section InAs/InP quantum-dot (QD) mode-locked laser (MLL) with the active length of 456 mu m and ridge width of 2.5 mu m at the C-band wavelength range. Without any external pulse compression, the transform-limited Gaussian-pulses are generated at the 92 GHz repetition rate with the 312 fs pulse duration, which is the shortest pulse from any directly electric-pumping semiconductor MLLs to our best knowledge. The lasing threshold injection current and external differential quantum efficiency are 17.2 mA and 38%, respectively. We have also investigated the working principles of the proposed QD MLLs. (C) 2008 Optical Society of America.