Theoretical and experimental study of polarization switching in long-wavelength VCSELs subject to parallel optical injection

Abstract

We report a theoretical and experimental analysis of the polarization switching found in a single-transverse mode VCSEL when subject to parallel optical injection. We have found a novel situation in which injection locking of the parallel polarization and excitation of the free-running orthogonal polarization of the VCSEL are simultaneously obtained. Analytical expressions for the power of both linear polarizations in the previous steady state are determined. We show that considering two linear polarization modes in a model of a VCSEL subject to parallel optical injection leads to simpler expressions than those found for a VCSEL with only a single linear polarization. We show that the power emitted in both linear polarizations depend linearly on the injected power. The stability region of this solution is measured in the plane injected power versus frequency detuning.

State bistability between pure- and mixed-mode states in a 1550 nm vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser subject to parallel optical injection

“…Very recently, experimental and theoretical studies have demonstrated that POI can also induce the nonlinear optical bistability in single-transverse-mode VCSELs. [28][29][30][31][32] Quirce et al reported the frequency-induced polarization switching and optical bistability, 30) and the power-induced polarization switching and optical bistability in a 1550 nm VCSEL under POI, 31) where a special bistability was observed between the injection locking of the parallel polarization mode with a simultaneous orthogonal polarization switching excitation (IL+PS) and the single injection locking (IL) of the parallel polarization mode. Denis-le Coarer et al further experimentally and theoretically performed the measurement of dynamic maps of a 1550 nm VCSEL under POI in the injected powerfrequency detuning plane, and they found bistability between IL+PS and different dynamic states in the parallel polarization mode.…”