Abstract

In a recent paper Xu, et al.¹ reported the results of an experiment designed to test the coupled-oscillator theory of laser array dynamics.² This model consists of a set of ordinary differential equations that use as basis fields the modes of the individual lasers and includes terms that couple the fields of adjacent lasers. In the paper of Xu et al., the authors claim that the coupled-oscillator model fails to describe their experimental results. Instead, they assert that the correct way to describe the array dynamics is to use as a basis set the array modes (supermodes) of the system of coupled lasers. They further claim that the coupled-oscillator model cannot describe the “instant” phase locking observed in their experiment.

© 1993 Optical Society of America