Microscale optical parametric oscillators (MOPO) based on laser diode technology may have important practical applications, especially in quantum optics. The self-pumped Spontaneous Parametric Down-Conversion (SPDC) design was found to be a promising concept among the other MOPOs and, therefore, these devices are in the focus of recent studies. To make this source of photon pairs adequately reliable, the contribution of temperature and injected current to changes in refractive index of the cavity and, correspondingly, to the output optical parameters of the converted emission, should be clarified. At the same time, the effects of cavity temperature and free carrier density changes on the conversion process are concomitant and require accurate investigation by nonconventional methods.

Zareian et al. propose an external pump of a laser diode cavity to separate the study of the free carrier and cavity temperature effects on the difference frequency generation (DFG) of self-pumped SPDC in GaAs/AlGaAs diode lasers. This study is the first systematic investigation of DFG processes in semiconductor laser cavities and will have an impact on the design of future MOPOs.

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