Abstract

We have used our self-sustained noise model of coherence collapse in a semiconductor laser with optical feedback for investigating the extent to which the linewidth parameter (α) is responsible for causing this instability.¹ In this model the laser is driven by the same noise that it had emitted one feedback delay time τ earlier.² The linearized coupled rate equations for the phase, power, and carrier density lead to a self-consistent solution for the power spectrum and related noise properties, e.g., coherence time. This solution depends on the feedback rate γ, linewidth parameter α, and relaxation oscillation parameters λ_R (damping) and ω_R (frequency).

© 1990 Optical Society of America