Patent ID: 7830941

Claim:
A coupled-cavity semiconductor laser device, comprising: a semiconductor active region disposed between a first semiconductor confining layer and a second semiconductor confining layer; a plurality of first electrode elements coupled with the first confining layer, at least a portion of each of the first electrode elements being spaced apart from and substantially collinear to each other; at least one second electrode coupled with the second confining layer; a plurality optically coupled micro-cavities, each of the optically coupled micro-cavities being defined by an associated one of said plurality of first electrode elements; at least one inter-cavity spacing comprising a region between an adjacent pair of optically coupled micro-cavities and having a length selected to produce a desired dominant resonance wavelength of the semiconductor laser; the semiconductor laser device being capable of emitting light in the active region upon the application of electrical current between at least one of the first electrode elements and the second electrode, the emitted light having a plurality of wavelength resonances, the plurality of wavelength resonances having values determined at least in part by a length of the plurality of optically-coupled micro-cavities, the plurality of wavelength resonances having a dominant resonance wavelength having a value determined at least in part by the selected length of the at least one inter-cavity spacing.