P. Besnard et al., Switching between polarized modes of a vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser by isotropic optical feedback, J OPT SOC B, 16(7), 1999, pp. 1059-1063
Experiments are described that show that polarization of light in a vertica
l-cavity surface-emitting laser subjected to isotropic optical feedback can
jump regularly back and forth between two orthogonal states when the injec
tion current is increased. The polarization-resolved light-current characte
ristic curves are thus channeled. This effect occurs when the dichroism of
the laser is weak enough to allow the effective (isotropic) reflectance to
impose the polarization. A comparison of a model introduced by San Miguel e
t al. [Phys. Rev. A 52, 1728 (1995)] and the standard equations indicates t
hat the best description is given when no spin relaxation is included. (C)
1999 Optical Society of America [S0740-3224(99)01607-0].