Characteristics of polarization switching from the low to the high frequency mode in vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers

Polarization selection in small-area vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser s is studied experimentally in dependence of injection current and substrat e temperature in the vicinity of the minimum threshold condition. Polarizat ion switching from the low to the high frequency fundamental spatial mode i s demonstrated. The effective birefringence displays a minimum in the trans ition region. The observation of dynamical transition states hints to the r elevance of nonlinear effects. A comparison to the predictions of the San M iguel-Feng-Moloney model based on phase-amplitude coupling is given. (C) 20 01 American Institute of Physics.