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IEEE International Semiconductor Laser Conference (ISLC)

Ultrafast gain and refractive index dynamics of semiconductor amplifiers measured by four-wave mixing

Alessandro D’Ottavi, Eugenio Iannone, Antonio Mecozzi, S. Scotti, P. Spanò, R. Dall’Ara, George J. Guekos, J. Eckner

Published Dec 17, 2002• 2 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Measurements of four-wave mixing in traveling wave semiconductor optical amplifiers are extended up to frequency detunings between pump and probe as high as 4.3 THz. The 35 fs equivalent time resolution is, to our knowledge, the highest achieved to date. Experimental evidence of nonlinear processes faster than spectral hole burning is obtained for the first time by using a frequency domain technique.

DOI
10.1109/islc.1994.518920

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Measurements of four-wave mixing in traveling wave semiconductor optical amplifiers are extended up to frequency detunings between pump and probe as high as 4.3 THz. The 35 fs equivalent time resolution is, to our knowledge, the highest achieved to date. Experimental evidence of nonlinear processes faster than spectral hole burning is obtained for the first time by using a frequency domain technique.
Nondegenerate four-wave mixing is measured in the 1.5 mu m traveling-wave semiconductor optical amplifier medium as a function of the pump-probe detuning frequency ranging from a few GHz to 400 GHz. It is found that two different sources are responsible for the four-wave mixing: the carrier density modulation and the nonlinear gain effect. The latter is clearly observed when the detuning frequency increases above 100 GHz. The nonlinear gain coefficient epsilon , which induces a gain grating through the pump-probe beating, is estimated to be 1.75*10/sup -23/ m/sup 3/. The change in the real refractive index associated with the nonlinear gain effect, which generates an index grating, is negligibly small. The relaxation time involved in the nonlinear gain effect is found to be less than 0.3 ps. These results support the role of the spectral hole burning rather than the carrier heating in the nonlinear gain effect.>
The new experimental research on the four-wave mixing (FWM) phenomena described here consists in launching three optical waves (pump, probe, and test) into a semiconductor optical amplifier and measuring the test beam transmission and the conversion efficiency of the new wave generated to one side of the test beam. It allows for an excellent identification of the nonlinear phenomena involved in the FWM process. The analysis principle is based on the modulation of the gain curve for each of the three effects considered: spectral hole burning, carrier heating, and carrier density pulsation. Experimental and theoretical results are presented.
Spectral hole burning in semiconductor lasers manifests as a nonlinear suppression of the mode gain by a few percent. In the presence of a probe wave, the same mechanism can lead to highly nondegenerate four-wave mixing (NDFWM) by creating the dynamic gain and index gratings at the beat frequency of the pump and probe waves. Since the grating efficiency is governed by the intraband relaxation time (typically <1 ps), significant NDFWM can occur even for a pump-probe detuning ∼100 GHz. We present the results for the conjugate reflectivity and the probe transmittivity when an InGaAsP laser is used as a traveling-wave amplifier.
We report on the characterization of the ultrafast gain and refractive index dynamics of an InAs/InGaAsP self-assembled quantum dot semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) operating at 1.55 mum through heterodyne pump-probe measurements with 150 fs resolution. The measurements show a 15 ps gain recovery time at a wavelength of 1560 nm, promising for ultrafast switching at >40 GHz in the important telecommunications wavelength bands. Ultrafast dynamics with 0.2-1.5 ps lifetimes were also found consistent with carrier heating and spectral hole burning. Comparing with previous reports on quantum dot SOAs at 1.1-1.3 mum wavelengths, we conclude that the carrier heating is caused by a combination of free-carrier absorption and stimulated transition processes.
Nearly degenerate four-wave mixing (NDFWM) in a traveling-wave semiconductor laser amplifier is demonstrated by simultaneously injecting two lights of slightly different frequencies in the same direction. A new frequency light at an expected frequency for NDFWM is observed with the same order of output as that of the injected light. The output power ratio of the three beams is strongly dependent on the sign of the frequency detuning. Theoretical analysis, in which the carrier rate equation is coupled with nonlinear Maxwell’s equations, explains the experimental results well. The observed behaviors are attributed to a unique third-order nonlinearity stemming from saturation-induced refractive index change in the semiconductor gain medium.