DYNAMIC AM CONTROL OF THE TRANSVERSE MODES OF A SELF-PULSING SEMICONDUCTOR LASER

摘要

A semiconductor laser, at appropriate values of current above threshold, enters a nonlinear regime characterized by (1) a continuous region in which the output radiation self-pulses simultaneously in two competing transverse modes and/or (2) a bistable region in which the output radiation self-pulses in either of two noncompeting transverse modes, but not both. In one embodiment the laser is current biased in one of these regions and is switched between different transverse modes by amplitude modulating the injection current.