Optical Bistability in Coupled-Cavity Semiconductor Lasers

Mohammad Saeed Tahvili, Mohammad Hossein Sheikhi

In this paper, a distributed feedback (DFB) semiconductor laser amplifier (SLA) with nonuniform grating is studied for optical bistability behavior. The investigation is focused on distributed coupling coefficient (DCC) structures which have a corrugation with nonuniform depth along the cavity. A modified implementation of transfer-matrix method is used to take gain saturation and coupling coefficient variation along the DCC DFB structure into account. Wavelength dependence of optical bistability and the effect of gain-tuning in DCC DFB SLA's are demonstrated.

Ian H. White

M.J. Adams, H.J. Westlake, M.J. O’Mahony

Vijay Bhatt, Sabur A. Barbhuiya, Pradip K. Jha +1 more

Abstract We theoretically explore optical bistability for the possible signature of all-optical switching and their performance in a hybrid quantum optomechanical system comprising of two semiconductor microcavities coupled optically. One of the cavity is driven by an external amplitude-modulated pump laser while the second cavity, which contains a quantum dot (QD), is indirectly driven by light transmitted from the first cavity and a transverse optical field. The generated bistable behavior due to optomechanical nonlinearity shows a typical optical switching behavior and it can be controlled by changing the laser power, QD cavity coupling, modulating amplitude/frequency and the optomechanical coupling. A clear signature of energy exchange between the mechanical and optical modes is visible from the mechanical displacement spectrum. These results suggest that the present system can be used in sensitive optical switches and optical sensors.

McLnerney, Heffernan

Curtis Wang, Milton Feng, N. Holonyak

Optical bistability in a single semiconductor transistor laser are realized and demonstrated based on the modulation of cavity photon density via the base quantum-wells for photon-generation and collector intra-cavity photon assisted tunneling for photon-absorption.