Large optical bistability and self pulsations in three section DBRlaser diode

A bistable operation with a hysteresis of 24 mA in the power-current curve of a three section DBR laser is reported. The laser threshold at increasing current is 51 mA while in the opposite direction the laser action is sustained down to 27 mA. The same effect was observed by monitoring the laser threshold through the Bragg and phase section currents. In a large part of the current range which corresponds to the bistable laser operation, strong self pulsations have been observed at frequencies between 1.5 GHz and 3.5 GHz with an amplitude of up to 31.4 dB