Polarization Switching in Long-Wavelength VCSELs Subject to Orthogonal Optical Injection

Abstract

The Polarization Switching (PS) appearing in longwavelength vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) subject to orthogonal optical injection is investigated theoretically and experimentally. We have studied the injected optical power required for PS as a function of the frequency detuning between the injected light and the orthogonal linear polarization of the VCSEL. For a wide range of bias currents applied to the device, the injected power required for the occurrence of PS exhibited a minimum and a plateau with respect to the frequency detuning. The minimum (plateau) was found at negative (positive) frequency detuning. The bistable behaviour of the polarization is described. Our experimental results confirm the theoretical predictions of M. Sciamanna et al, Phys Rev. A, vol. 73, 023811, 2006. The levels of the minimum and the plateau were observed to increase as higher bias currents were applied to the VCSEL. A first theoretical and experimental observation of the disappearance and further appearance of PS when increasing the injected power in long-wavelength VCSELs is described. This situation is obtained for small levels of negative frequency detuning and for large enough values of applied bias current. A good overall qualitative agreement is found between our theoretical and experimental results.

Nonlinear dynamics of polarization switching of a 1550-nm vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser under orthogonal optical injection

“…After referring to related results in Ref. [18], a free-running 1550nm VCSEL exhibits a dominant and stable y LP state (or "parallel" polarization state) and a subsidiary x LP mode (or "orthogonal" polarization state) over the whole bias current range. Therefore, optical injection from a tunable master laser is assumed to be along x linear polarization direction in this work.…”

“…Recently, much more attention has been focus on the analysis of nonlinear dynamics in long-wavelength VCSELs emitting at 1550 nm since this waveband VCSELs are low cost optical sources and power efficient devices in local and access networks [14]. Furthermore, for 1550 nm VCSELs subject to orthogonal optical injection, some interesting nonlinear dynamical phenomena have been also studied and reported including PS and PB [15][16][17][18]. However, corresponding detailed theoretical analysis is still scare.…”

Influence of Variable-Polarization Optical Feedback on Polarization Switching Properties of Mutually Coupled VCSELs

“…The internal parameters of 1550-nm VCSEL are chosen as [25], [36], [37]: κ = 125 ns −1 , α = 2.2, γ N = 0.67 ns −1 , γ s = 1000 ns −1 , γ a = 2 ns −1 , γ p = 192 ns −1 . The integration step is chosen as 0.1 ps to capture accurate results.…”

“…Very recently, with the development of fabrication technology for long-wavelength VCSELs, the PS characteristics of 1550-nm VCSELs have also attracted extensive attention [21]- [25]. Among these reported studies, parallel optical feedback/injection and orthogonal optical feedback/injection are commonly employed to realize PS in VCSELs.…”

Numerical study of polarization hysteresis in VCSELs subject to orthogonal injection

“…In vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) the polarization degree of freedom allows for an even wider variety of dynamical regimes, as the injected light can have either the same linear polarization as the free-running laser (this injection scheme has been referred to as parallel injection) or it can have the orthogonal polarization (referred to as orthogonal injection) [11][12][13][14][15][16].…”