Nonharmonic large amplitude modulation of a semiconductor laser ina self-homodyne interferometric optical system

A self-homodyne interferometric optical system fed by a modulated semiconductor laser is analyzed theoretically and experimentally. Both the intensity and frequency modulation of the laser diode with large modulation index are considered. For nonharmonic modulation, the effect of the AM-FM transfer function of the laser diode is taken into account. Theoretical and experimental results obtained show good agreement. Applications of the system for the characterization of wideband optical detectors and the measurements of the FM response of the laser diode are discussed. By using triangular modulation, novel characterization techniques are proposed. Results obtained by these techniques are in good agreement with those obtained by other measurement techniques