Abstract

Semiconductor laser output signal can be controlled by modulating its pumping current but this requires high speed electronics and it is usually limited in bandwidth due to the electrical characteristics of the laser diode and its mounting and package. On the other hand, self-sustained emission of regular or chaotic signals can be induced in semiconductor lasers under steady conditions of bias current leading to operations which are robust and limited in bandwidth only by the internal time-scales of the laser (intraband and/or interband relaxation processes, photon lifetime). For this reason several configurations leading to these dynamics have been explored in the last two decades.

© 2013 IEEE