Beyond mean field and plane wave theories of bistable semiconductor lasers

The steady-state output of semiconductor lasers containing saturable absorbers is calculated using a model that includes transverse mode variation, high gain and absorption coefficient, and high mirror transmission. The results are compared to the predictions of the mean field theory, and they show that the mean field formulas underestimate the amount of hysteresis and overestimate the required amount of absorption compared to the high gain formulas.

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

[2]  T. Dziura,et al.  Bistable Operation of Two Semiconductor Lasers in an External Cavity: Rate-Equation Analysis , 1983, Topical Meeting on Optical Bistability.

[3]  S. Stenholm,et al.  Gas Laser with Saturable Absorber. I. Single-Mode Characteristics , 1973 .

[4]  W. Rigrod.  Saturation Effects in High‐Gain Lasers , 1965 .

[5]  D. Hall,et al.  Transverse effects in the bistable operation of lasers containing saturable absorbers , 1984 .

[6]  P. Drummond,et al.  Optical bistability in a radially varying mode , 1981 .

[7]  H. Greenstein.  Theory of a Gas Laser with Internal Absorption Cell , 1972 .

[8]  J. Goell.  A circular-harmonic computer analysis of rectangular dielectric waveguides , 1969 .

[9]  A. C. Scott.  Laser efficiency at high pump levels , 1965 .

[10]  H. Kawaguchi.  Optical bistability and chaos in a semiconductor laser with a saturable absorber , 1984 .

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

[12]  Kam Y. Lau,et al.  Passive mode locking of buried heterostructure lasers with nonuniform current injection , 1983 .

[13]  T. Erneux,et al.  Stationary, harmonic, and pulsed operations of an optically bistable laser with saturable absorber. I , 1984 .

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

[15]  L W Casperson,et al.  Laser power calculations: sources of error. , 1980, Applied optics.

[16]  J. Wilcox,et al.  Power characteristics of single‐mode semiconductor lasers , 1984 .

[17]  L. Lugiato,et al.  Transverse effects and self-pulsing in optical bistability , 1983 .

[18]  M. Ito,et al.  Carrier density dependence of refractive index in AlGaAs semiconductor lasers , 1980 .

[19]  Pierre Glorieux,et al.  Repetitive passive Q-switching and bistability in lasers with saturable absorbers , 1983 .