Patent ID: 8290016

Claim:
A monolithic semiconductor optoelectronic device comprising: a) at least one cavity region having at least one resonant wavelength, called a first wavelength; b) at least one light generating element comprising a gain region formed with a planar p-n junction, the light generating element being configured to generate light when a forward bias is applied to the gain region; c) at least one multilayer interference reflector having an optical power transmittance, said at least one multilayer interference reflector being formed of alternating layers, with an alternation of layers being realized in a direction perpendicular to said planar p-n junction; d) at least one non-tunable part of the multilayer interference reflector; e) at least one modulator region formed by a part of the multilayer interference reflector, having an optical power reflectance, a reflectivity stopband, and a reflectivity stopband edge at a second wavelength, wherein the modulator region is configured to modulate an output intensity of the light by electro-optically tuning said second wavelength such that said second wavelength is shifted from a spectral position on a short wavelength side from said first wavelength to a spectral position on a long wavelength side from said first wavelength, wherein the multilayer interference reflector is changed from the non-transparent state to the transparent state or vice versa by the tuning, wherein the tuning varies the optical power transmittance of the multilayer interference reflector at said first wavelength; and f) at least three electric contacts configured to apply bias to the modulator region and to the light generating element independently; wherein said at least one light generating element is positioned within an optical field profile and said at least one modulator region is positioned within the optical field profile.