Effect of nonlinear gain on the phase noise of Y-branch lasers

Effect of nonlinear gain on the phase noise of modulated grating Y-branch (MGY) lasers is investigated by experiments and simulations. The phase noise is first characterized by measuring the frequency modulation noise spectrum of the MGY laser, and some interesting phenomena are observed. In order to understand the underlying physic mechanism of those phenomena, simulations are performed with taking Langevin noise sources and nonlinear gain terms into account. Simulated results show that, in the presence of the nonlinear gain, fluctuations of side-modes can bring excess phase noise to the lasing mode, especially when the side-modes are on the long-wavelength side of the main mode. Furthermore, it has been found that the phase noise hopping phenomenon can be induced by a bi-stable state of the laser, which is also closely related to the nonlinear gain. The investigation is helpful for explaining the complicated phase noise characteristics of the MGY laser.