Patent ID: 8693509

Claim:
A loss-modulated semiconductor laser device, comprising: a semiconductor-on-insulator (SOI) structure resident on a first substrate, the SOI structure comprising a waveguide in a semiconductor layer of the SOI structure; a semiconductor structure bonded to the semiconductor layer of the SOI structure, the semiconductor structure and the waveguide collectively defining at least a portion of a laser cavity; and a modulator operable for controlling a loss in the laser cavity, the modulator being located entirely in the laser cavity, and the modulator being further operable for controlling a photon lifetime in the loss-modulated semiconductor laser device by controlling at least one of a group velocity, a cavity length, a feedback coefficient, and a distributed loss in the loss-modulated semiconductor laser device, wherein the modulator comprises an n-doped region and a p-doped region that are proximate to the waveguide, the n-doped region being on a first side of the waveguide and the p-doped region being on a second side of the waveguide.