B. Ryvkin et al., Effect of photon-energy-dependent loss and gain mechanisms on polarizationswitching in vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers, J OPT SOC B, 16(11), 1999, pp. 2106-2113
We have analyzed the effect of the photon energy and temperature dependence
of both the gain and the total losses inside the cavity to understand the
polarization behavior of vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers. The assum
ption that the lasses are dominated by free-carrier absorption in the p-dop
ed mirror is made. Developing a new theoretical approach, we are able to pr
edict different polarization switching regimes in which switching occurs fr
om the high- to the low-frequency mode, from the low- to the high frequency
mode, or both consecutively. All these predictions have been experimentall
y verified by our measurements on GaAs/AlGaAs proton-implanted vertical-cav
ity surface-emitting lasers. (C) 1999 Optical Society of America [S0740-322
4(99)00111-3].