Microwave and Optical Technology Letters
Bistability of a complex‐coupled DFB laser with TM‐mode injection
Chao‐Xiang Shi
Abstract
Abstract We propose a novel method to produce optical bistability by using a complex‐coupled DFB (CC‐DFB) laser with TM‐mode injection. Because the CC‐DFB laser has good, dynamically stable operation, our proposed method is advantageous in high‐speed switching for signal processing. Polarization optical bistabilities are detailed using coupled‐mode equations and rate equations for the CC‐DFB lasers considering longitudinal hole burning and carrier‐dependent complex‐coupling coefficients. Many parameters reflecting the physical features of a complex‐coupled DFB laser are discussed. It is shown that for a CC‐DFB laser the polarization bistability induced by TM‐mode injection is much stronger for the antiphase of complex coupling than for the in phase. For the antiphase case the bistability becomes stronger if the complex‐coupled DFB laser structure is close to a pure gain grating DFB laser. © 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.