Influence of hot carrier dynamics on pulse propagation in semiconductor lasers

摘要

We time resolve the dynamic response of InGaAsP quantum-well semiconductor diode lasers after injection of a femtosecond pulse, using ultrafast upconversion. The injection of a single off-resonant pulse leads to a very fast generation of picosecond 'dark pulses', which then generate bright pulses again, leading to dark-pulse-bright-pulse oscillations with a change-over period of 500 ps. We suggest that nonlinear gain compression causes these oscillations.