Title :
Nonlinear dynamics of vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers
Author_Institution :
East Harbour Telecommun. Ltd., Hong Kong
fDate :
3/1/1999 12:00:00 AM
Abstract :
The dependence of the transient response of a vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) on its aperture size is investigated subject to direct current modulation and external optical feedback. It is shown that lasers with small aperture size suppress higher order bifurcations and chaos even under large-signal modulation and external optical feedback. Furthermore, the noise characteristics of VCSELs under the influence of external optical feedback are studied via the calculation of relative intensity noise. It is found that the level of external optical feedback for the onset of coherence collapse is high for devices with small aperture size. On the other hand, the small-signal response of lasers is also analyzed through the calculation of third-order harmonic distortion. It is shown that harmonic distortion is minimized in small devices. Therefore, VCSELs with small aperture size have better immunity to irregular response under direct current modulation and external optical feedback
Keywords :
bifurcation; laser feedback; laser theory; nonlinear optics; optical chaos; semiconductor device models; semiconductor lasers; surface emitting lasers; transient response; VCSEL; aperture size; chaos; coherence collapse; current modulation; direct current modulation; external optical feedback; higher order bifurcations; irregular response; nonlinear vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser dynamics; relative intensity noise; small aperture size; small-signal response; third-order harmonic distortion; transient response; Apertures; Harmonic distortion; Laser feedback; Laser noise; Optical feedback; Optical modulation; Optical noise; Surface emitting lasers; Transient response; Vertical cavity surface emitting lasers;
Journal_Title :
Quantum Electronics, IEEE Journal of