Abstract

The space-time dynamical behaviour of multi-stripe index/gain guided semiconductor laser arrays and broad area lasers is studied using the semiconductor Maxwell-Bloch laser model including transverse diffraction of the counterpropagating optical fields and transverse diffusion of the excited carriers. Our results confirm that evanescently coupled multi-stripe lasers are a fascinating manifestation of spatio-temporal complexity in spatially extended nonlinear systems. Stabilization of the laser output can be achieved by injection-locking the array with a weak external injected signal. The broad area laser shows random intensity filamentation in free-running mode and can be stablized to produce high power output by using the unstable resonator configuration for transverse mode discrimination.

© 1992 Optical Society of America