Simulations of boundary layers and point defects in coupled VCSEL arrays |
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Abstract: | The inherent gain dependence on carrier depletion and on the lateral cavity interactions differentiates active photonic lattices from passively coupled models, employing a given complex gain profile. This paper addresses coupled vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser array effects due to finite boundaries and the possibility of individual bias failures, of interest for practical applications. The "cold-cavity" characteristic parameters are assumed identical, focusing on biasing defects and site vacancies. Analysis and numerical simulations based on the tight-binding approximation show that phase-locking persists in finite arrays. Self-regulation of the edge cavity density and power generate boundary layers of differentiated cavity operation values. The inter-cavity phase shift remains nearly uniform, with a small superimposed linear slope caused by cross-cavity reflection interference from distributed Bragg reflectors. Phase locking is robust against partial or complete failure to lase for individual cavity sites, or even entire rows, due to biasing errors. |
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