TRANSIENT-RESPONSE OF WAVELENGTH SWITCHING IN MULTICAVITY MODE-LOCKEDLASER-DIODES

We report the transient response of wavelength switching in multicavit y laser diodes. Spatially separated Bragg gratings embedded in a singl e fiber are used to map optical emission wavelength to photon round-tr ip time in an external cavity mode-locked laser diode. Transient emiss ion wavelength and mode-locked pulse formation are explored by switchi ng applied radio frequency modulation. Initial conditions are found to dominate transient response. A hot photon cavity has a characteristic rise time corresponding to approximately two photon cavity round trip s. A cold photon cavity exhibits significant turn-on delay and rise ti me that depends on applied radio frequency signal power and is indepen dent of above threshold steady-state current bias. (C) 1996 American I nstitute of Physics.