Abstract

A general theory of noise and small-signal modulation of multielement laser diodes in the saturated regime is established. Nonlinear elements are connected to the ports of a linear-optical circuit oscillating in a single electromagnetic mode. The laser amplitude and phase fluctuations are expressed simply in terms of the scattering matrix of the linear-optical circuit at any baseband frequency and for an arbitrary electronic feedback. The case of a single laser diode and a single detector is treated to demonstrate this method. The correlation between optical power and electrical voltage fluctuations is shown to disappear at large output powers, in agreement with recent experiments.

© 1989 Optical Society of America

Multielement laser-diode linewidth theory

J. Arnaud
Opt. Lett. 13(9) 728-730 (1988)

Frequency fluctuations of a diode-pumped Nd:YAG ring laser

Peter Fritschel, Andrew Jeffries, and Thomas J. Kane
Opt. Lett. 14(18) 993-995 (1989)

Frequency-stabilized laser-diode-pumped Nd:YAG laser

David Shoemaker, Alain Brillet, C. Nary Man, Olivier Crégut, and Graham Kerr
Opt. Lett. 14(12) 609-611 (1989)

High-accuracy picosecond characterization of gain-switched laser diodes

S. Cova, A. Lacaita, M. Ghioni, and G. Ripamonti
Opt. Lett. 14(24) 1341-1343 (1989)

Backscatter-modulation velocimetry with an external-cavity laser diode

Peter J. de Groot and Gregg M. Gallatin
Opt. Lett. 14(3) 165-167 (1989)