The linewidth of a mode-locked semiconductor laser caused by spontaneous emission: Experimental comparison to single-mode operation

Journal Article · Sat Nov 01 00:00:00 EST 1986 · IEEE J. Quant. Electron.; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1109/JQE.1986.1072907· OSTI ID:7111516

Rush, D W; Burdge, G L; Ho, P T

The authors experimentally compare the linewidth of the individual modes of an extended cavity semiconductor laser when it operates mode locked and when it operates single mode. They find that the linewidths under these two operating conditions have the same inverse dependence on the average power. Therefore, the coherence length of the mode-locked source is the same as that of the single-mode source despite lower power per mode, much broader total bandwidth, and much higher spontaneous emission noise level in the mode-locked source. It can be inferred from our data that the electric fields of over 1000 consecutive mode-locked pulses are correlated.

• Research Organization: Dept. of Electrical Engineering, Univ. of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742
• OSTI ID: 7111516
• Journal Information: IEEE J. Quant. Electron.; (United States), Vol. QE-22:11
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

42 ENGINEERING
SEMICONDUCTOR LASERS
LINE WIDTHS
MODE LOCKING
COHERENCE LENGTH
ELECTRIC FIELDS
LASER CAVITIES
NOISE
OPERATION
PULSES
RESEARCH PROGRAMS
STIMULATED EMISSION
DIMENSIONS
EMISSION
ENERGY-LEVEL TRANSITIONS
LASERS
LENGTH
SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES
420300* - Engineering- Lasers- (-1989)