Bistability, high speed modulation, noise and pulsations in GaAlAs semiconductor lasers

Thesis/Dissertation · Sat Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1983

OSTI ID:6824565

Harder, C S

Bistable semiconductor lasers based on inhomogeneous current injection, achieved with a split contact scheme, were proposed around 20 years ago. However, actual devices showed no or only a small hysteresis and they were in addition beset by pulsations for reasons not well understood at the time. Lasers with an optimized design can display bistability with a giant hysteresis. Crucial to the understanding of the bistable laser is a negative differential resistance across the absorber section, reminiscent of a tunnel diode characteristic. Depending on the electrical biasing circuit this negative differential resistance leads to bistability or light-jumps and self-pulsations. A simple model based on the conventional rate equations explains the observed behavior. Investigation of the switching dynamics of this optoelectronic device reveals a delay time which is critically dependent on the trigger pulse amplitude and which is typically in the order of a few nanoseconds at a power-delay product of 100pJ. The high speed modulation behavior of semiconductor lasers is investigated theoretically and experimentally. The fundamental limits of injection lasers for pulse modulation and small signal modulation are derived. The noise equivalent circuit of a semiconductor laser diode is derived from the rate equations including Langevin noise sources.

• Research Organization: California Inst. of Tech., Pasadena (USA)
• OSTI ID: 6824565
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

42 ENGINEERING
420300* -- Engineering-- Lasers-- (-1989)
ALUMINIUM ARSENIDES
ALUMINIUM COMPOUNDS
ARSENIC COMPOUNDS
ARSENIDES
ELECTRONIC CIRCUITS
EQUIVALENT CIRCUITS
GALLIUM ARSENIDES
GALLIUM COMPOUNDS
HETEROJUNCTIONS
JUNCTIONS
LASERS
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
MODULATION
NOISE
PNICTIDES
SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES
SEMICONDUCTOR JUNCTIONS
SEMICONDUCTOR LASERS
STABILITY