Abstract

The optical feedback from an external cavity may force a semiconductor laser to oscillate in a single mode with very narrow linewidth. However, above a certain critical level of feedback the laser may switch to a seemingly chaotic state in which the linewidth is increased by several orders of magnitude. We report on a theoretical study of this transition by computer simulation of the coupled rate equations for the complex electric field β(t) exp(jω_ot) and the carrier density N(t).

© 1985 Optical Society of America