Beam steering via resonance detuning in coherently coupled vertical cavity laser arrays

Johnson, Matthew T.; Siriani, Dominic F.; Tan, Ming Jen; Choquette, Kent D.

doi:10.1063/1.4830432

Cited by 60 publications

(38 citation statements)

References 14 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The general trends found in this comparative study of laser guiding structures are applicable to a range of EELs and VCSELs used in laser arrays, which could have important implications for their design for specific applications. For example, tuning of coupling strength in photonic crystal microcavities can lead to modal switching between in-phase and antiphase modes [35], and detuning of the resonant wavelengths by differential current injection in VCSEL arrays is a fast and efficient method of beam steering [36]. Another example is arrays for high-power sources.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of detuning, gain-guiding, and index antiguiding on the dynamics of two laterally coupled semiconductor lasers

Adams

Cemlyn

et al. 2017

Phys. Rev. A

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Four examples of laterally coupled semiconductor lasers with different waveguiding structures have been studied using coupled mode theory and allowing for frequency detuning between the lasers. The structures include purely real index guiding, pure gain-guiding, and combinations of index guiding and antiguiding with gain-guiding. The dynamics of these four systems have been explored using AUTO software (standard numerical continuation package), linear stability analysis, and direct integration of the rate equations. Convincing agreement between results obtained by these three methods has been demonstrated, including effects due to variation of laser pumping rate, detuning, and linewidth enhancement factor. A periodicity of behavior with laser separation has been revealed that was previously overlooked. This periodicity has increasing influence on the bifurcations of the system as the structures develop from those with purely real guidance to a combination of index antiguiding and gain-guiding. The laser design and operating parameters used are realistic for a wide range of edge-emitting and surface-emitting lasers of practical importance, so that the dynamics studied here are relevant to real systems of coupled lasers.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of detuning, gain-guiding, and index antiguiding on the dynamics of two laterally coupled semiconductor lasers

Adams

Cemlyn

et al. 2017

Phys. Rev. A

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…It is worth mentioning that for laser separation distances larger than those typically occurring in PICs or in cases where delays are intentionally introduced, such systems are described by delay-differential equations having a rich set of dynamical features [21][22][23][24].The introduction of topological characteristics in coupled lasers in terms of differential pumping and frequency detuning between the lasers [ Fig. 1(d)] enables the onchip implementation of a large set of key functionalities such as reconfigurable beam forming and steering [25], coherence tuning and enhanced phase-locking [26][27][28], localized syncrhonization [27,29], enhanced bandwidth and tailored modulation response [30,31] as well as existence of exceptional points allowing for ultra-sensitivity [32][33][34][35].In this work we consider the fundamental non-Hermitian optical meta-molecule consisting of two mutually coupled and differentially pumped semiconductor lasers as the basic reconfigurable oscillator element of a photonic integrated circuit exhibiting an extreme frequency tunability spanning over 100 GHz and controlled by minute changes of the electrically injected differential pumping. The latter is shown to control not only the frequency but also the shape of the underlying limit cycle providing a remarkable flexibility for the RF properties of the emited light beam.The time evolution of the electric fields and the number densities of two evanescently coupled diode lasers is governed by the following coupled single-mode rate equations for the amplitude of their normalized electric fields E 1 , E 2 , their phase difference θ and the normalized excess…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Radically tunable ultrafast photonic oscillators via differential pumping

Kominis

Bountis

Kovanis

2020

Journal of Applied Physics

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

We present the controllability capabilities for the limit cycles of an extremely tunable photonic oscillator, consisting of two coupled semiconductor lasers. We show that this system supports stable limit cycles with frequencies ranging from a few to more than a hundred GHz that are characterized by a widely varying degree of asymmetry between the oscillations of the two lasers. These dyamical features are directly controllable via differential pumping as well as optical frequency detuning of the two lasers, suggesting a multi-functional oscillator for chip-scale radio-frequency photonics applications.Limit cycles are the fundamental ingredients of a wide variety of physical as well as man-made systems exhibiting characteristic self-sustained oscillations. Their existence is directly related to the interplay of two characteristic features that can be met in almost all realistic models, namely nonlinearity and dissipation. In contrast to oscillations of conservative nonlinear systems whose frequency is determined by the initial energy of the system, limit cycles have frequencies that are determined solely by the parameters of the system and often constitute global attractors to which the system evolves for any initial condition [1]. The existence of such robust limit cycles renders them crucial for the life itself, since they often occur in chemical and biological rhymes such as circadian oscillations [2-5], whose frequencies are determined by enviromental physical parameters. On the other hand, the existence of such limit cycles in manmade systems is crucially important for key technological applications such as time or frequency references [6,7] with their range of frequencies being controllable by the system parameters with significantly greater freedom in comparison to biological oscillators.Currently, there is intense interest in various implementations of ultrafast reconfigurable oscillators in systems and functional devices for next generation Photonic Integrated Circuits (PIC) [8,9] and RF photonics applications [10]. Due to the fact that single semiconductor lasers are not capable of supporting limit cycles, configurations based on optically coupled lasers have been proposed and intensively studied for more than four decades [11]. In this context, Optically Injected Lasers (OIL) corresponding to a one-way coupling in a master-slave configuration [ Fig. 1(a)] have been shown to support relatively tunable limit cycles [12][13][14][15]; however, the need for a bulky optical isolator prevents their on-chip integration [9] and significantly restricts their applications. The utilization of strong mutual coupling, corresponding to complicated configurations where a single electric field mode is amplified by two gain blocks, has been shown to result to a gain-lever mechanism [ Fig. 1(b)] allowing for significant bandwidth-enhancing [16,17]. The case of evanecently coupled diode lasers is shown to be the most promising for photonic integration [9] and also capable of supporting stable limit cycles [18][19][20]. Ho...

show abstract

“…Emitted laser light that propagates through the second cavity parallel to the surface can be used in the engineering of photonic integrated circuits (PICs), for example, by the coherent coupling of two or more devices for beam steering [30]. Another important feature of the emission Brought to you by | MIT Libraries Authenticated Download Date | 5/12/18 9:55 AM pattern is an angular peak in the far-field pattern related to a specific tilted emission over the VCSEL surface at ~ 35° to 37°, which was verified in a series of far-field experiments.…”

Section: Leaky Vcselsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Application of nanophotonics to the next generation of surface-emitting lasers

et al. 2017

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Novel trends and concepts in the design and fabrication of vertical cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) and their integration in optical networks and implementation in integrated photonics applications are discussed. To serve these goals and match the growing bandwidth demands, significant changes are to be implemented in the device design. New lateral leakage-mediated singlemode VCSELs, including both devices confined by oxide layers and those confined by alloy-intermixed regions, are likely to be good candidates for light sources for the data networks of the future. An overview of the records in VCSEL transmission distances and transmission speeds is discussed in this context.

show abstract

Beam steering via resonance detuning in coherently coupled vertical cavity laser arrays

Cited by 60 publications

References 14 publications

Effects of detuning, gain-guiding, and index antiguiding on the dynamics of two laterally coupled semiconductor lasers

Effects of detuning, gain-guiding, and index antiguiding on the dynamics of two laterally coupled semiconductor lasers

Radically tunable ultrafast photonic oscillators via differential pumping

Application of nanophotonics to the next generation of surface-emitting lasers

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About