The authors discuss system aspects and describe experimental demonstrations of nanosecond wavelength tuning in laser diode structures. Both tunable transmitters and tunable filters are considered. The dependence of the refractive index on the carrier density in semiconductors is exploited to obtain fast wavelength tuning. Experimentally, switching times of  >
['H. Kobrinski', 'Mario P. Vecchi', 'Matthew S. Goodman', 'Evan L. Goldstein', 'T. Chapuran', 'J.M. Cooper', 'Moshe Tur', 'Chung-En Zah']
Fast wavelength-switching of laser transmitters and amplifiers