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We introduce a novel concept of discretely tunable semiconductor lasers with on-chip filtered optical feedback. The integrated device is based on a semiconductor ring laser that can sustain two counter-propagating modes. By means of a directional coupler, part of the light emitted by the laser is coupled out to a feedback section integrated on the same chip. The feedback section contains two arrayed waveguide gratings and a set of semiconductor optical amplifiers to provide filtering of particular longitudinal modes sustained by the ring cavity. By controlling the current injected into the semiconductor optical amplifiers, single mode operation in both directions is achieved. In this paper, the design, characterization, and modeling of the device is presented. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A novel discretely tunable laser based on filtered feedback is presented. The semiconductor device consists of a Fabry--Perot laser with deeply etched broadband distributed Bragg reflector mirrors. Single-mode operation is achieved by using feedback from an integrated filter. This filter contains an arrayed waveguide grating wavelength router and a semiconductor optical amplifier gate array. Design, simulation, and the first characterization results of this new integrated filtered-feedback tunable laser device are presented. It shows a combination of a simple and robust switching algorithm with good wavelength stability. A rate equation model predicts that a properly designed device can switch within 1 ns. The fast switching and reduced control complexity makes the device very promising for various advanced applications in optical telecommunication networks. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]