Harmonic Passive Mode-Locking of a Single-Frequency Semiconductor Laser Submitted to Nonlinear Optical Feedback

Author

Guignard, Céline ; Besnard, Pascal ; Mihaescu, Adrian ; Zheludev, Nikolay I.

Author_Institution

Univ. de Rennes 1, Lannion

Volume

42

Issue

12

fYear

2006

Firstpage

1185

Lastpage

1195

Abstract

We report on a theoretical analysis of the dynamical performance of a single-frequency semiconductor laser under the influence of nonlinear optical feedback. It is shown that the modal structure of such a laser is both dependent on the mirror characteristics and on the pump current. The analysis concentrates on the self pulsating regimes that can be observed, and more precisely on the occurrence of harmonic passive mode-locking. Generation of short pulses, characterized by a duration around 10 ps and a repetition rates as high as 20 GHz, have been demonstrated. The characteristics of this mode-locking strongly depend on the nonlinear mirror´s temporal response

Keywords

laser cavity resonators; laser feedback; laser mirrors; laser mode locking; nonlinear optics; optical pulse generation; optical pumping; semiconductor lasers; 10 ps; 20 GHz; harmonic passive mode-locking; mirror characteristics; modal structure; nonlinear mirror; nonlinear optical feedback; optical pump current; self pulsating regimes; semiconductor laser; short pulse generation; single-frequency laser; Laser excitation; Laser feedback; Laser mode locking; Laser theory; Mirrors; Optical feedback; Optical pulse generation; Performance analysis; Pump lasers; Semiconductor lasers; Mode-locking; nonlinear optical feedback; semiconductor lasers;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Quantum Electronics, IEEE Journal of

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9197

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/JQE.2006.882878

Filename

4012273