Two-dimensional model of self-pulsation in AlGaAs laser diodes (original) (raw)

Two-dimensional model of self-pulsation in AlGaAs laser diodes

Semiconductor Lasers and Laser Dynamics, 2004

The use of a fully two-dimensional waveguide analysis of the optical modes in a self-pulsating laser is described. We show that there is a need for such an analysis as the effective index model often used for modeling semiconductor lasers is shown not to provide a correct optical mode when the lateral waveguide is only weakly guiding. An efficient technique for solving the large and sparse matrix calculation in the two-dimensional model, the implicitly restarted Arnoldi method, is used and shown to be useful for the repetitive calculation necessary to describe the laser dynamics. We find that the optical field and optical gain show a variation in the pulse cycle and that this variation that occurs due to the change in carrier density, is responsible for the development of self-pulsation in the diode device.

Dynamics of High-Power Diode Lasers

Topics in Applied Physics, 2000

This review gives an overview of the theory and discusses aspects of space-time modeling of high-power diode lasers. The dynamic interaction between the optical fields, the charge carriers, and the interband polarization are described on the basis of microscopic spatially resolved Maxwell-Bloch equations for spatially inhomogeneous semiconductor lasers. Thereby the influence of dynamic internal laser effects such as diffraction, self-focusing, scattering, carrier transport, and heating on the performance of broad-area or tapered amplifiers as well as the individual device properties (i.e. its epitaxial structure and geometry) are self-consistently considered.

Improved coupled-mode theory for the dynamics of semiconductor laser arrays

Optics Letters, 1993

We present an improved coupled-mode model to describe the dynamics of weakly index-guided semiconductor laser arrays. The model is derived from a partial differential equation model that includes the effects of carrier diffusion and gain guiding. Results from the two models are compared, and good qualitative and quantitative agreement is obtained.

Dynamics of multimode semiconductor lasers

Physical Review A, 2004

We analyze multi-longitudinal-mode semiconductor lasers experimentally. We show that the intensity of each mode displays large amplitude oscillations but obeys a highly organized antiphase dynamics leading to an almost constant total intensity output. For each mode, regular switching is observed in the megahertz range, while the optical frequency as a function of time follows a well defined sequence from blue to red. Using a multimode theoretical model, we identify that four-wave mixing is the dominant mechanism at the origin of the observed dynamics. The asymmetry of the susceptibility function of semiconductor materials allows us to explain the optical frequency sequence.

Modelling the dynamics of multimode lasers

Optica Pura Y Aplicada, 2011

In this manuscript we review the task of modelling the dynamics of multimode lasers that we have recently developed. The modelling comprises two different aspects: on one hand, the description of the intracavity field as a superposition of two counter-propagating travelling waves whose amplitudes evolve slowly in time and space; on the other, modeling the optical response of the active medium in such a way that we can correctly describe in time domain its dependence with pumping and frequency. Such a model allows to study the dynamics of multimode lasers in a unified way for a variety of configurations.

Generation of self-sustained pulsations of radiation in InGaAs/GaAs/InGaP quantum-well lasers

2007

We studied the dynamic characteristics of InGaAs/GaAs/InGaP quantum-well lasers generating at two wavelengths of about 1 µm with a spectral separation of 15-40 nm. We observed experimentally regimes of jumplike switching and self-sustained pulsations of radiation. The influence of ballistic transfer of carriers during intraband absorption on the production of positive feedback in the dynamic system is studied theoretically.

Optical-feedback-sustained self-pulsations in semiconductor lasers

Physics and Simulation of Optoelectronic Devices VI, 1998

In this work we study the dynamics of a single-cavity semiconductor laser device, able to work in self-pulsating regime as a consequence of a nonlinearity distributed in the whole active region and driven by the electromagnetic-field intensity in the laser cavity. Numerical values of the nonlinearity degree necessary to establish the self-pulsating regime are given which can be used for a comparison with experimental measurements of semiconductor materials properties. The optical feedback influence on the self-pulsating device is also studied showing how pulsation characteristics are affected by the presence of a reflected signal and pointing out the feedback ability to cause their generation or quenching. The possibility of using current and optical feedback for the pulsation characteristics control and for the switch of the laser output is discussed.

Self-pulsation dynamics in narrow stripe semiconductor lasers

2006

Abstract In this paper, we address the physical origin of self-pulsation in narrow stripe edge emitting semiconductor lasers. We present both experimental time-averaged polarization-resolved near-field measurements performed with a charged-coupled device camera and picosecond time resolved near-field measurements performed with a streak camera. These results demonstrate dynamic spatial-hole burning during pulse formation and evolution.