Abstract

Vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSEL) are interesting laser systems due to the short cavity length (~ μm) which results in single longitudinal mode operation. We studied locking dynamics of VCSELs experimentally. Stable phase locking by injecting a weak signal from a master laser into a VCSEL was obtained and the locking range was measured. Outside the locking range the generation of side bands was observed when the detuning of the injection frequency from the VCSEL frequency was dose to the resonance of the intrinsic oscillations in the VCSEL. These intrinsic resonances of the VCSEL include the relaxation oscillations in ~GHz range and the transverse mode resonances of ~100GHz.

© 1994 Optical Society of America