| 摘要 |
PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an optical transmitter with a light source of long operation life and high reliability. SOLUTION: An optical switch element 60 is provided to an optical path of a semiconductor laser chip 50 acting like an optical transmission light source, and an optical switch drive circuit 42 outputs directly a received optical signal to an optical fiber L1 or branches the light partly to a reflection film 61 or switches thereto. In the case of sending data, the reflection film 61 forms an optical resonator for laser stimulation to generate a laser beam from a semiconductor laser chip 50, and in the case of a standby state, stimulates the semiconductor laser chip 50 as a light emitting diode. Thus, the laser is used by switching the laser mode or the diode mode in response to a data transmission speed so as to suppress the operation time as the laser thereby extending its operation life. |
