Single-mode giga-hertz optical pulses generated by a self-modulation of the relaxation oscillation frequency in a semiconductor laser with subharmonic polarization-rotated optical feedback

In this research, single-mode 3.76 GHz optical pulses were generated in a Fabry-Perot type single-mode semiconductor laser with polarization-rotated optical feedback (PROF) at a round-trip feedback distance of 50.8 cm, corresponding to a feedback frequency of 0.59 GHz. Experimental results and numerical simulations revealed that the pulse generation mechanism involved a self-modulation of the laser’s relaxation oscillation frequency so that the oscillation frequency approximated to an integer multiple of the PROF round-trip feedback frequency. This effect is very different from similar experiments reported by many researchers before, in which the laser’s output was amplitude modulated by the feedback frequency and an ultra-short feedback distance was required to generate giga-hertz optical pulses. Investigations about some characteristics of the self-modulation mechanism will be reported in the paper.     

All optical Flip-Flop based on a nonlinear DFB semiconductor laser: Theoretical study

A new design of an all optical Flip-Flop is proposed. It consists of a nonlinear distributed feedback (DFB) laser. The wave guiding layer of the DFB laser consists of linear grating section followed by a nonlinear one, and both sections are separated by a phase shift section. In the OFF-state, the real part of the refractive index in the wave guiding layer forms a Bragg grating. In the ON-state, it forms a Bragg grating with a phase shift section. Optical gain is achieved by current injection in the semiconductor active layer. Nonlinearity in the nonlinear layers of the semiconductor grating was achieved by direct absorption at the edge of the absorption band (Urbach tail). Numerical simulation shows that the device switches in a nanosecond time scale.     

Interferometric method for characterizing the smile of laser diode bars

We propose an interferometric method for the characterization of the smile of laser diode bars (LDBs). The LDB is placed in a Lloyd’s mirror set-up. The beams coming from the LDB and its virtual image produce Young’s fringes, which are captured by a charge-coupled-device array, digitised and saved in a computer as an irradiance matrix. The irradiance matrix is processed in the computer and the smile parameter extracted. The theoretical basis of the method is discussed and simulated fringe patterns of practical situations are presented. A device based on the described interferometric method was mounted and the smile of a commercially available LDB was characterised.     

Current spreading and series resistance of proton-implanted vertical-cavity top-surface-emitting lasers

In this paper, the current flow through the whole volume of the proton-implanted Vertical-Cavity top-Surface-Emitting Lasers (VCSELs) is analysed in detail. A simple approximate analytical relation was derived for a radial distribution of the current density entering active regions of those lasers. This distribution is nearly uniform in the case of VCSELs with a very small active region, but is becoming more and more non-uniform with an increase in its size. In VCSELs with very large active regions, current is flowing practically only within a narrow annular area close to the active-region perimeter. The VCSEL series electrical resistance is determined as a function of its active-region radius.     

Effect of Surface Roughness and Reynolds Number on Self-Similarity of Velocity Profile in the Atmospheric Boundary Layer

Self-similarity of power law velocity profile of a simulated atmospheric boundary layer is studied experimentally. The results demonstrate that the self-similarity maintains very well along the streamwise direction for the same rough surface but changes significantly with the surface roughness at the same position. The self-similarity of the vertical velocity profiles is affected by enhancement of the free stream velocity when the roughness concentration is relatively denser.     

Phase Noise of Optically Generated Microwave Using Sideband Injection Locking

Optically generated 20-GHz microwave carriers with phase noise lower than -75 dBc/Hz at 10 kHz offset and lower than -90 dBc/Hz at 100 kHz offset are obtained using single- and double-sideband injection locking. Within the locking range, the effect of sideband injection locking can be regarded as narrow-band amplification of the modulation sidebands. Increasing the current of slave laser will increase the power of beat signal and reduce the phase noise to a certain extent. Double-sideband injection locking can increase the power of the generated microwave carrier while keeping the phase noise at a low level. It is also revealed that partially destruction of coherence between the two beating lights in the course of sideband injection locking would impair the phase noise performance.     

Message filtering characteristics of semiconductor laser as receiver in optical chaos communication

The message filtering characteristics of the receiver in closed-loop chaotic optical communication system are numerically studied based on laser rate equations. A pair of external cavity semiconductor lasers was employed as the chaotic carrier transmitter and the synchronized chaos receiver. We examined the filtering properties of the semiconductor laser receiver for message encoded with chaos masking. Our results demonstrate that, the lower the message frequency, the more easily the receiver filters out the message from chaotic carrier. We also analyzed the effects of each parameter mismatches between the transmitter and the receiver on the quality of the recovered message. Comparing the synchronization quality with the signal-to-noise ratio affected by parameter mismatches, we find that the quality of the recovered message depends not only on the synchronization quality but also on the filtering characteristics of the receiver. The filtering characteristics of receiver will be playing an important role on the quality of the recovered message in the case of large mismatches.     

Gain-switched semiconductor laser amplifier as an ultrafast dynamical optical gate

A gain-switched semiconductor laser is shown to act as an optical gate with picosecond resolution and amplification for light pulses from another laser source. The amplification mechanism and the gate width change qualitatively when the gate laser undergoes a transition from a pumping rate slightly below the dynamic laser threshold to slightly above the dynamic threshold. If the gate laser is pumped below but close to its dynamical threshold, unsaturated amplification of an external signal pulse occurs over a delay time range between the external optical pulse and the electrical driving pulse of about 100–200 ps which is equivalent to the optical gate width. The signal amplification is observed to increase by two orders of magnitude and the gate width decreases by one order of magnitude if the gate laser is pumped slightly above the dynamical threshold. Amplification then occurs for input signals injected much earlier. A detailed theory of coherent, time-dependent amplification including the nonlinear dynamics of the semiconductor laser is shown to account for the observations. Both amplification regimes, below and above threshold, are reproduced in the numerical simulations. The extremely short and highly sensitive gate range above threshold is identified as being due to the gain maximum related with the first relaxation oscillation of the laser.     

Frequency locking in a semiconductor laser with double incoherent optical feedback

Frequency locking (FL) in a semiconductor laser with double incoherent optical feedback is experimentally studied, and the characteristics of the locking states are analyzed through comparing the RF spectrum of double incoherent optical feedback and single incoherent optical feedback. Moreover, by varying the external loops length ratio, different orders of frequency locking states are observed. The influence of feedback strength and cavity length on locking performance is preliminarily investigated and the optimized FL state is obtained. This experimental investigation may offer a method to obtain frequency spacing tunable discrete broad-band signals.     

Quasi-three-level Nd:YAG laser under diode pumping directly into the emitting level

We present theoretical and experimental investigations on ground-state direct pumping at 869 nm into the emitting level ⁴F_3/2 of end-pumped quasi-three-level Nd:YAG lasers operating at 946 nm. We have demonstrated, what we believe is for the first time, a Nd:YAG laser at 946 nm directly pumped by diodes and obtained 1.6 W of output power.     

Amplification and wave mixing of induced and spontaneous emission in semiconductor laser amplifiers

We theoretically describe and experimentally investigate the spatio-spectral wave mixing of induced and spontaneous emission in large-area InGaAs-semiconductor laser amplifiers. The dynamic light-matter-coupling is described by a spatially resolved theory based on Maxwell–Bloch–Langevin equations, taking into account many-body-carrier interactions, energy transfer between the carrier and phonon systems and, in particular, the spatio-temporal interplay of stimulated and amplified spontaneous emission and the noise caused by spontaneous emission. Our numerical model reveals the fundamental physical processes which are responsible for the spectral power distribution of the amplified laser light and predicts the emission properties of high-power semiconductor laser amplifiers, such as emission spectra and input power–output power characteristics. Received:30October2002/Revisedversion:21November2002 / Published online: 12 February 2003 RID="*" ID="*"Corresponding author. Fax: +49-711/6862-349, E-mail: Edeltraud.Gehrig@dlr.de RID="**" ID="**"Also at: Institute of Physics, Tampere University of Technology, P.O. Box 692, FIN-33101, Tampere, Finland RID="***" ID="***"Present address: Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG, Speyerer Strasse 6, 69115 Heidelberg, Germany RID="****" ID="****"Present address: Lightbit Corporation, 411 Clyde Avenue, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA     

Sensitive birefringence measurement in a high-finesse resonator using diode laser optical self-locking

We demonstrate a new method to measure weak birefringence of dielectric mirrors with excellent spatial resolution and sensitivity (<10^-7 radians). We exploit a well-known optical feedback scheme for line-width narrowing and frequency locking of a diode laser to a high-finesse cavity. Feedback comes from the intracavity field which builds up at resonance, selected by its change in polarization with respect to the incident field. This change, due to the residual birefringence of the cavity mirror coatings, was already exploited for birefringence measurements using an active laser-locking scheme. Here we measure the optical feedback rate as a function of rotation angle of one of the cavity mirrors (around the cavity axis). A stable feedback signal is obtained since the laser, as soon as it locks to a cavity resonance, effectively behaves as a monochromatic source. By fitting the data with a theoretical expression, we determine quantitatively the local birefringence vectors of both mirrors, which are around 10^-6 radians. Our scheme is simple, works with cavities of very high finesse (F∼10⁵), and is promising for measuring birefringence in gases induced by external fields. Received: 18 July 2001 / Final version: 14 March 2002 / Published online: 8 May 2002     

Abrupt turn-on and hysteresis in a VCSEL with frequency-selective optical feedback

The emission characteristics of a vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) operated in a single-transverse mode and coupled to an external cavity with a diffraction grating as a frequency-selective element are analyzed experimentally, numerically and analytically. The experiments yield a rather abrupt turn-on of the VCSEL to a high-amplitude emission state and hysteresis phenomena. The experimental results are explained by numerical simulations and analytical calculations demonstrating the possibility of bistability between lasing and non-lasing states close to threshold. Hence, the scheme might be useful in all-optical photonic switching applications. A detailed bifurcation analysis near threshold is given by superimposing the numerical results with analytical steady-state curves. The mode selection and switching behavior obtained in the simulations can be interpreted from the point of view of the preference of states with the minimal total losses.     

High-efficiency,high-speed VCSELs for optical interconnects

High-efficiency, high-speed, tapered-oxide-apertured vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) emitting at 980 nm have been demonstrated. By carefully engineering the tapered oxide aperture, the mode volume can be greatly reduced without adding much optical scattering loss for the device sizes of interest. Consequently, these devices can achieve higher bandwidth at lower current and power dissipation. In addition, the parasitics are reduced by implementing deep oxidation layers and an improved p-doping scheme in the top mirror. Our devices show modulation bandwidth exceeding 20 GHz, a record for 980 nm VCSELs. Moreover, 35 Gb/s operation has been achieved at only 10 mW power dissipation. This corresponds to a data-rate/power-dissipation ratio of 3.5 Gbps/mW. Most importantly, our device structure is compatible with existing manufacturing processes and can be easily manufactured in large volume making them attractive for optical interconnects.     

Far-Field Distributions of Double-Heterostructure Diode Lasers： an Improved Non-Equiphase Model

A non-equiphase Gaussian model is proposed to simulate the far-field distributions ofdouble-heterostructure diode lasers, which is physically reasonable because the phase along the junction of diode lasers could not be equal, A comparison of the numerically calculated intensity profiles in using the equal phase and non-equiphase models with the experimentally measured intensity profiles given by Nemoto shows that in the x direction perpendicular to the junction plane, the non-equiphase Gaussian model is as good as the equal phase Gaussian model. Specifically, in the y direction parallel to the junction plane and the 45° direction with respect to the x axis in the xoy plane, the numerical results by using the non-equiphase model are in good agreement with the experimental data, as the propagation distance is larger than a certain value.     

Thermal Performance of Laser Diode Array under Constant Convective Heat Transfer Boundary Condition

Three-dimensional heat transfer model of laser diode array under constant convective heat transfer coefficient boundary condition is established and analytical temperature profiles within its heat sink are obtained by separation of variables. The influences on thermal resistance and maximum temperature variation among emitters from heat sink structure parameters and convective heat transfer coefficient are brought forward. The derived formula enables the thermal optimization of laser diode array.     

A Compact 532-nm Source by Frequency Doubling of a Diode Stack End-Pumped Nd：YAG Slab Laser

A near-diffraction-limited green source is generated at 1 kHz repetition rate by frequency doubling of a diode stack end-pumped electro-optically Q-switched Nd：YAG slab laser. We obtain 9. 7mJ green light with pulse width of 12.2ns at a repetition rates of i kHz. The pump to green optical conversion efficiency is 12.9%. The energy pulse stability at 532nm is about 0.8%.     

High-resolution diode-laser spectroscopy of calcium

Saturated-absorption signals on the calcium 657 nm transition are observed by direct absorption using diode lasers and a high flux atomic-beam cell. Line-widths as narrow as 65 kHz are observed with a high signal-to-noise ratio. Prospects for using this system as a compact wavelength/frequency reference are considered.     

Spectroscopy of the 689 nm intercombination line of strontium using an extended-cavity InGaP/InGaAIP diode laser

A visible diode laser emitting at 690 nm at room temperature has been frequency-stabilized using a simple scheme based on optical feedback from a diffraction grating. The possibilities offered by these lasers for high-resolution spectroscopy are demonstrated by recording the sub-Doppler signal of the 689 nm intercombination line of strontium and resolving the hyperfine structure of the close P63 R70 (8, 4) transitions of iodine.     

Analysis of the single-mode laser-diode linear model

The Volterra model that was developed of the single-mode laser-diode is used to analyze the specific effects of the various laser-diode parameters on the diode linear characteristics described by its first-order Volterra kernel. This analysis lends insight of the single-mode laser-diode model and also enables one to determine optimum parameter values for desired operating characteristics and also any required feedback for a desired frequency response.First, the manner by which the d-c injection current affects the diode gain and frequency response is discussed. This study additionally indicates that there are coupled kinetic and potential energy processes which just exist in a region about threshold. A careful study of this region could thus result in a better understanding of the threshold electron-photon dynamics involved.The effect of deviations of the laser-diode parameters from their normal values on the diode operating characteristics is then analyzed. This analysis is especially useful for the optimization of the laser-diode linear operation to minimize its sensitivity to parameter changes. Further, by combining this result with the temperature sensitivity of the various parameter values, one can analyze the temperature sensitivity of the diode linear operating characteristics. With this, a laser-diode can be designed in which the sensitivity of its operating characteristics to temperature variations is minimized.