Pulsed and CW lasers integrated on glass: technology, applications, and challenges

Rare-earth-doped glass has proved to be a highly effective material for the manufacture of optical amplifiers and lasers. In this presentation, we will review the work carried out at the CROMA laboratory on rare-earth-doped integrated lasers using the ion-exchange technology. We will first focus on narrow linewidth laser sources and their applications such as THz carrier generation for high-speed optical telecommunications. We will then present our efforts to monolithically integrate a saturable absorber into our laser cavities. These developments have led to Q-switched lasers that have been successfully used in various LIDAR systems.