Bistability and pulsations in semiconductor lasers with inhomogeneous current injection

Bistability and pulsation at microwave frequencies are observed in CW GaAs semiconductor lasers with inhomogeneous current injection. Inhomogeneous current injection is achieved with a segmented contact structure. Crucial to the understanding of the characteristics of this device is the discovery of a negative differential electrical resistance across the contacts of the absorbing section. Depending on the electrical bias condition, this negative differential resistance leads to bistability or light-jumps and self pulsations. A simple model based on conventional rate equations with a linear gain dependence on carrier density explains the observed behavior and suggests a new mechanism in inhomogeneously pumped diode lasers for light-jumps and pulsations which does not depend on the condition for the usually proposed repetitively Q -switching. Investigation of the switching dynamics of this bistable optoelectronic device reveals a delay time which is critically dependent on the trigger pulse amplitude and typically on the order of a few nanoseconds with power-delay products of 100 pJ. The observed critical slowing down and its origin is discussed. We also report on the characteristic of this laser coupled to an external optical cavity and we demonstrate successfully that this bistable laser can be used as a self coupled stylus for optical disk readout with an excellent signal to noise ratio.

[1]  A. Yariv,et al.  Interaction of a bistable injection laser with an external optical cavity , 1982 .

[2]  A. Yariv,et al.  Dynamical switching characteristics of a bistable injection laser , 1982 .

[3]  A. Yariv,et al.  Bistability and negative resistance in semiconductor lasers , 1982 .

[4]  D. Marcuse,et al.  Computer model of an injection laser with asymmetrical gain distribution , 1982 .

[5]  R. Logan,et al.  Subpicosecond pulses from passively mode‐locked GaAs buried optical guide semiconductor lasers , 1981 .

[6]  Hitoshi Kawaguchi,et al.  Bistable operation of semiconductor lasers by optical injection , 1981 .

[7]  R. A. Logan,et al.  Pulsating output of separate confinement buried optical guide lasers due to the deliberate introduction of saturable loss , 1981 .

[8]  Kam Y. Lau,et al.  Bistability and pulsations in cw semiconductor lasers with a controlled amount of saturable absorption , 1981 .

[9]  Junichi Shimada,et al.  Voltage change across the self-coupled semiconductor laser , 1981 .

[10]  T. Fujiwara,et al.  Repetitive pulsating stripe geometry GaAlAs double‐heterostructure lasers with a stripe by a shallow Zn diffusion , 1981 .

[11]  Charles Howard Henry,et al.  Spectral dependence of the change in refractive index due to carrier injection in GaAs lasers , 1981 .

[12]  C. Fonstad,et al.  Double‐heterojunction laser diodes with multiply segmented contacts , 1981 .

[13]  Hitoshi Kawaguchi,et al.  Bistable operation in semiconductor lasers with inhomogeneous excitation , 1981 .

[14]  H. Inaba,et al.  Self-Q-switched picosecond optical pulse generation with tandem-type AlGaAs TJS laser , 1981 .

[15]  Joseph Katz,et al.  Buried-heterostructure AlGaAs lasers on semi-insulating substrates , 1981 .

[16]  Kam Y. Lau,et al.  Generation and quenching of intensity pulsations in semiconductor lasers coupled to external cavities , 1980 .

[17]  T. Paoli.  Electrical interactions of a superlinear laser diode with its external circuit , 1980 .

[18]  Charles Howard Henry,et al.  Measurement of gain and absorption spectra in AlGaAs buried heterostructure lasers , 1980 .

[19]  Charles Howard Henry,et al.  Theory of defect‐induced pulsations in semiconductor injection lasers , 1980 .

[20]  W. Joyce,et al.  A possible model for sustained oscillations (pulsations) in (Al,Ga)As double-heterostructure lasers , 1979, IEEE Journal of Quantum Electronics.

[21]  P. Meystre,et al.  Critical slowing down in optical bistability , 1979 .

[22]  Susan D. Allen,et al.  Transient response of hybrid bistable optical devices , 1979 .

[23]  Andrzej Kossakowski,et al.  Semiclassical and quantum theory of the bistability in lasers containing saturable absorbers. II , 1978 .

[24]  Henry Kressel,et al.  Semiconductor Lasers and Heterojunction LEDs , 1977 .

[25]  W. Joyce,et al.  Analytic approximations for the Fermi energy of an ideal Fermi gas , 1977 .

[26]  C. Cantrell,et al.  Laser-phase transition analogy: Application to first-order transitions , 1975 .

[27]  T. Ohmi,et al.  A limitation on repetition rate of pulsations of junction lasers due to the repetitively Q-switched mechanism , 1973 .

[28]  N. Basov,et al.  Dynamics of injection lasers , 1968 .

[29]  N. G. Basov.  0-1-Dynamics of Injection Lasers , 1968 .

[30]  John C. Marinace,et al.  GaAs Injection Laser with Novel Mode Control and Switching Properties , 1965 .

[31]  G. Lasher,et al.  Analysis of a proposed bistable injection laser , 1964 .