A. Klehr et R. Muller, CONTROL OF LIGHT POLARIZATION IN INGAASP INP LASERS BY INJECTION OF LIGHT-PULSES/, Journal of applied physics, 81(5), 1997, pp. 2064-2069
Light emission from a ridge waveguide 1.3 mu m InGaAsP/InP semiconduct
or laser pumped both electrically and optically was analyzed by polari
zation- and time-resolved measurements. The electric and the optical e
xcitation was realized with a de-bias current and with 150 ps pulses f
rom a Q-switched Nd-YAG laser at 1.064 mu m wavelength, respectively.
The pump light was introduced into the InGaAsP/InP laser through a win
dow opened in the substrate gold contact. The steady-state P-1 charact
eristics of the semiconductor laser exhibited a transition from TM- to
TE-polarized light emission if the injection current surpasses a cert
ain value that depends on the heatsink temperature. Depending on the d
c-bias current and the optical pulse power, a variety of different emi
ssion characteristics of the semiconductor laser were observed: pure T
E or TM pulsations, in combination with a background cw emission in so
me cases; simultaneous emission of TE and TM pulses and switching betw
een TM and TE emission states with switching times as short as 30 ps.
(C) 1997 American Institute of Physics.