Investigation of polarization properties of VCSELs subject to optical feedback from an extremely short external cavity-part II: experiments

The effect of isotropic optical feedback from an extremely short external cavity on the emission properties of vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) is experimentally investigated. When changing the external cavity length a modulation of the total power and the wavelength emitted by the VCSEL is observed with a period of half the wavelength of operation of the device. When biasing the VCSEL around its solitary (without optical feedback) polarization switching (PS) current, PS between the two linearly polarized modes is observed by changing the external cavity length. This PS is found to occur through a hysteresis region. Our experimental results show a modulation of the PS currents and the hysteresis width when changing the external cavity length with a period of half the wavelength of operation. The experimental results are well explained by a two mode rate equation model.     

Transient response of ARROW VCSELs under external optical feedback

The effect of external optical feedback on the transient response of antiresonant reflecting optical waveguide (ARROW) vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) is studied. It can be shown that the proper design of ARROW can suppress the excitation of high-order transverse leaky mode as well as increase the critical feedback strength so that stable high-power single-mode operation of VCSELs can be obtained even under the influence of strong external optical feedback.     

光注入光反馈下VCSEL非线性输出特性分析

为了研究光注入和光反馈对垂直腔面发射激光器(VCSEL)非线性输出特性的影响,基于自旋反转模型(SFM),利用MATLAB数值仿真二者共同作用下VCSEL的非线性输出特性.研究结果表明:在光注入和光反馈同时作用下,VCSEL输出可以实现稳态、单周期、多周期、混沌等非线性行为.通过合理选择注入强度,可实现对VCSEL输出行为的控制.     

Investigation of polarization bistability in vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers subjected to optical feedback

Polarization bistability in vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) subject to optical feedback has been studied both experimentally and theoretically. Optical feedback is shown to reduce the width of the bistability hysteresis loop and, hence, suppress the bistability. It is also demonstrated experimentally that polarization-selective optical feedback can be utilized to eliminate VCSEL polarization switching without inducing instabilities in the device.     

椭圆偏振光注入下VCSELs的偏振开关特性研究

本文基于自旋反转模型,理论研究了椭圆偏振光注入下垂直腔面发射激光器(VCSELs)的偏振开关特性。研究结果表明:在X偏振模占主导的VCSELs中,采用椭圆偏振光注入时,随着注入偏转角度θ的增大,VCSELs发生偏振开关所需的最小注入系数(ηin min)值将呈现减小的趋势;当注入偏转角度θ值固定时,随着注入光与VCSELs中心频率之间的频率失谐量从负值变化到正值,ηin min值总体呈现出先减小后增大的趋势,而ηin min的极小值出现在了注入光的频率靠近VCSELs的Y偏振模频率的附近。因此,改变注入偏转角度及注入频率失谐量均可以实现对VCSELs的偏振开关的有效调控。     

Effect of external optical feedback on spectral properties of external cavity semiconductor lasers

The effects of external optical feedback on the spectral properties of single-mode external cavity semiconductor lasers that use a graded-index (GRIN) lens in the optical cavity have been investigated. Mode rejection ratio and intensity drop-out rate of the dominant mode as a function of optical strength have been measured. These measurements show that a laser with a short (160 ?m) GRIN-lens external cavity can tolerate optical feedback as large as ?20 dB without significant penalty. This minimum optical feedback can be larger when lasers with shorter cavity length are used.     

Gain measurements on semiconductor lasers by optical feedback from an external grating cavity

We report on new methods to determine the curvature around maximum of the mode gain curve of homogeneously line-broadened semiconductor lasers, either by measuring the wavelength dependence of threshold current of the laser coupled to an external grating cavity or by measuring the tuning range of the laser versus the amount of optical feedback. We experimentally found the mode gain width and the current-induced peak-gain wavelength shift of a GaAlAs CSP laser to 175 Å and 2.1 Å/ mA, respectively.     

Theoretical analysis of external optical feedback on DFB semiconductor lasers

The effect of external optical feedback on resonant frequency, threshold gain, and spectral linewidth of distributed feedback (DFB) semiconductor lasers is theoretically analyzed. The analysis applies to any type of laser cavity formed by a corrugated waveguide limited by partially reflecting facets. It is shown that the sensitivity to optical feedback on a facet is closely related to the power emitted through this facet. Numerical results on wavelength selectivity and on sensitivity to optical feedback are given for conventional DFB lasers having an AR-coated facet and for quarter-wave-shifted (QWS) DFB lasers with AR-coatings on both facets. Both laser types are found to be more sensitive to optical feedback on their AR-coated facet than Fabry-Perot lasers for lowkL. On the other hand, QWS-DFB lasers are found to be relatively insensitive to optical feedback for largekL.     

Efficient frequency noise reduction of GaAlAs semiconductor lasersby optical feedback from an external high-finesse resonator

The reduction of frequency noise power level of non-antireflection-coated GaAlAs laser diodes by several orders of magnitude using optical feedback from an external high-finesse Fabry-Perot resonator is discussed. Optimum oscillation parameters were derived from a steady-state model. Long-term performance was obtained by electronic feedback phase control     

The complex way to laser diode spectra: example of an external cavity laser strong optical feedback

An external cavity laser with strong grating-filtered feedback to an antireflection-coated facet is studied with a time-domain integral equation for the electric field, which reproduces the modes of the oscillation condition as steady-state solutions. For each mode, the stability and spectral behavior is determined by analysis of the location of side modes in the complex frequency plane. The complex frequency diagrams are shown to be a useful tool to determine the self-stabilization effect of mode coupling and its dependence on laser parameters and external cavity design. The model is used to simulate the large signal time evolution after start from unstable modes.     

Noise characteristics of a single-mode laser diode subject to strong optical feedback

An experimental study has been performed of the relative intensity noise (RIN) of a semiconductor laser in optical feedback regimes I to V. At low bias current, a low RIN is observed with low feedback ratio, the RIN increased in the coherence collapse regime (regime IV) and decreased in regime V. The RIN in regime V is lower than that of the solitary laser. For higher bias current, a higher feedback ratio is needed for the semiconductor laser to transit from regime IV to V. The measurements are found to be in good qualitative and quantitative agreement with theoretical predictions.     

Characteristics of chaos synchronization in semiconductor lasers subject to polarization-rotated optical feedback

We numerically investigate the detailed characteristics of chaos synchronization in semiconductor lasers subject to polarization-rotated optical feedback. The emission of the dominant TE mode of a drive laser is rotated 90 deg and fed back to the laser with time delay. The polarization-rotated TE mode is also injected with time delay into the TM mode of a second laser. Two types of synchronization with different time-lags are found, as in the case for synchronization in semiconductor lasers with nonrotated optical feedback. However, a significant difference to the nonrotated optical feedback case is that neither of the two types of synchronization requires matching of optical carrier frequency between the two lasers.     

Experiments on modulation properties and optical feedback characteristics of laser diodes stabilized by an external cavity or injection locking

In the wavelength range near 1.3-μm, single-mode operation of laser diodes is achieved by means of an external cavity and injection locking. The influence of digital modulation and optical feedback from a directly taper-coupled fiber is investigated. Lasers stabilized by injection locking showed excellent side-mode suppression at CW-operation but strong side modes when the laser was modulated. The frequency of the main mode is neither affected by modulation nor by optical feedback from the fiber. On the contrary the laser stabilized by an external cavity exhibited good side-mode suppression even when it was modulated. However, the frequency stability of the main mode was influenced severely by optical feedback and modulation. A transmission experiment over 21 km at a bit rate of 2.24 Gbit/s showed that this simple stabilization method is sufficient for applications in optical wide-band IM-PCM transmission systems.     

Noise properties of semiconductor lasers due to optical feedback

It has been recognized for some time that reflections back into the cavity of an injection laser from a mechanically unstable external mirror cause noise in the output of the laser (reflection noise). In this paper, noise measurements are presented for index-guided lasers as functions of the output power, the degree of optical isolation and external cavity length (5-15 cm), while current modulation (using 2-4 mA at 50-200 MHz) has been used to reduce the noise levels by as much as 20 dB. It is demonstrated that the mechanism of noise reduction by modulation is the frequency modulation of the laser's spectrum and its interaction with the modes of the external cavity. It is shown that using an optical isolator can give a relative intensity noise of -110 dB while using modulation in addition can reduce this to -125 dB; the bandwidth performance of optical storage systems is discussed in terms of these two schemes.     

Linewidth reduction of cleaved-coupled-cavity lasers by optical feedback from a single-mode polarisation-preserving fibre external cavity

Linewidth characteristics of a cleaved-coupled-cavity laser with a single-mode polarisation-preserving fibre external cavity have been investigated as a function of feedback power level and side-mode suppression ratio. The optimum power feedback ratio is near 2×10?4 for a minimum linewidth of about 30 kHz. A weak dependence of linewidth on side-mode suppression ratio is observed as long as the suppression ratio is greater than 500:1.     

Stable operation range for laser diodes with an integrated passivecavity in the presence of external optical feedback

It is shown that a laser diode with an integrated passive cavity yields higher tolerable levels of feedback from distant reflections than an equivalent long solitary laser diode. To ensure this high tolerance for external feedback, the internal feedback level in the integrated passive cavity must be of the order of about 10%. Then the laser diode remains stable up to external feedback levels in excess of 1% even if the internal reflection phase is not carefully adjusted. External reflections from a cleaved fiber end are then not sufficient to drive the laser into coherence collapse, if realistic coupling efficiencies between laser diode and fiber are taken into account. The low feedback sensitivity is explained by the combination of the long effective length of the laser and a high relaxation resonance frequency. Therefore, quantum-well laser diodes with a long length and a high relaxation resonance frequency are likewise expected to exhibit low feedback sensitivity     

Dynamical properties of a laser diode with optical feedback from anexternal high-finesse resonator

The effect of coupling optically a laser diode to a high-finesse external resonator is described. The authors take into account multiple roundtrips in the external cavity and the carrier finite life-time in the diode laser. The rate equations are studied analytically. Steady states are obtained and their stability determined. Numerical resolution of the equations leads to predicting self-pulsing modes of operation. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first numerical study of the laser diode rate equations with an infinite number of delay terms. The main result is a stabilization effect due to the high-finesse cavity; neither deterministic chaos nor complicated bifurcation schemes have been found     

Small-signal analysis of modulation characteristics in asemiconductor laser subject to strong optical injection

Injection locking of a semiconductor laser can induce major changes in the modulation characteristics of the laser. A small-signal analysis using the lumped element model shows that both the frequency and damping of the characteristic resonances of the coupled complex field and free carriers (gain medium) are modified. The detuning between the injected field and the free-running oscillating field, the amplitude of the injection field relative to the free-running field, the linewidth enhancement factor, the cavity photon and spontaneous carrier decay rates, and the field enhancement of the decay rate are all key parameters in determining the changes to the modulation characteristics. For a broad range of parameters, there is simultaneous enhancement of the modulation bandwidth and stable, locked operation. The enhancement is a cavity phenomena and does not occur in a traveling wave amplifier. It requires that the frequency of the locking field be detuned from the injection-modified frequency of the cavity resonance. This causes a resonant enhancement of the modulation sideband associated with the preferred frequency of the optical cavity. Bandwidth enhancements beyond the free-running laser limit are possible over a range of injection levels and injection frequency detunings