Observation of switching related to bistability between twocross-coupled lateral modes in twin-stripe lasers

Switching between two cross-coupled lateral modes in gain-guided twin-stripe lasers has been experimentally observed with current injection of nominally identical pulses, which strongly indicates bistability. Near- and far-field patterns at both facets are presented, which clearly shows a skewed light field which couples from under one stripe to under the other. Cross-coupled mode operation was obtained only for relatively long cavity lasers, which is consistent with the theory for twin-stripe lasers with high interstripe gain