Impact of gain dispersion on the spatio-temporal dynamics of multisection lasers

We present a refined model for multi-section lasers, introducing an additio nal equation for material polarization in the well-known traveling wave mod el. We investigate the polarization-induced changes in the spectral propert ies of the optical waveguide. Finally, we show the relevance of this model for a more realistic simulation of the complicated dynamical behavior of mu lti-section distributed feedback (DFB) lasers, such as fast self-pulsations , multi-stability; and hysteresis effects due to mode competition.