Coherence and phase dynamics of spatially coupled solid-state lasers

Fabiny, Larry; Colet, Pere; Roy, Rajarshi; Lenstra, D.

doi:10.1103/physreva.47.4287

Cited by 264 publications

(128 citation statements)

References 13 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

126

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…However, the origin of the noise which drives the diffusion is nevertheless ultimately quantum mechanical rather than classical and hence it makes sense to see (31) as a semiclassical equation in this context. It is worth noting that a Fokker-Planck equation with the same form emerges in the analysis of coupled lasers far above threshold [3]. Now that we have obtained an expression for the phase distribution in the semiclassical limit we can look in detail at when and how its predictions differ from the full (quantum) dynamics predicted by the master equation.…”

Section: Semiclassical Limitmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Self-sustained oscillators are ubiquitous in nature and synchronization effects have been widely studied across the physical and biological sciences [1]. Synchronization has also been studied in quantum optical systems such as the laser, although generally focussing on regimes where approximate semiclassical descriptions work well [2,3]. In the last few years there has been considerable interest in studying the synchronization of oscillators and related systems [4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22] close to threshold or at low excitation levels where semiclassical approaches break down and fully quantum mechanical calculations are required.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Synchronization of micromasers

Davis-Tilley

Armour

2016

Phys. Rev. A

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

We investigate synchronization effects in quantum self-sustained oscillators theoretically using the micromaser as a model system. We use the probability distribution for the relative phase as a tool for quantifying the emergence of preferred phases when two micromasers are coupled together. Using perturbation theory, we show that the behavior of the phase distribution is strongly dependent on exactly how the oscillators are coupled. In the quantum regime where photon occupation numbers are low we find that although synchronization effects are rather weak, they are nevertheless significantly stronger than expected from a semiclassical description of the phase dynamics. We also compare the behavior of the phase distribution with the mutual information of the two oscillators and show that they can behave in rather different ways.

show abstract

Section: Semiclassical Limitmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Synchronization of micromasers

Davis-Tilley

Armour

2016

Phys. Rev. A

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Experimental results on the dynamics of mutually coupled lasers were first reported for solidstate lasers [1]. The timescales over which the relaxation mechanisms operate in solid-state lasers are such that, in general, the delay induced by the field propagation between the two lasers is negligible.…”

Section: Abstract: Semiconductor Lasers Instabilities Chaosmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…small amplitude fluctuations around a steady state. This state has been already described as L 1 (1). The drop-off results from the subcritical breakup of the subnanosecond synchronization and occurs as a hard bubbling transition [16] to this metastable steady state.…”

Section: L10mentioning

confidence: 99%

Semiconductor lasers coupled face-to-face

Viktorov¹,

Yacomotti²,

Mandel³

2004

J. Opt. B: Quantum Semiclass. Opt.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

We show that for a large coupling time, semiconductor lasers coupled face-to-face exhibit a fast dynamics and a slow stairs-like periodic modulation. The effect can be explained by the nonlinear response of semiconductor lasers to external injection and a breakup of subnanosecond synchronization. Keywords: semiconductor lasers, instabilities, chaosCoupled lasers have attracted attention in recent years because they can exhibit dynamical effects useful to a wide range of problems. Experimental results on the dynamics of mutually coupled lasers were first reported for solidstate lasers [1]. The timescales over which the relaxation mechanisms operate in solid-state lasers are such that, in general, the delay induced by the field propagation between the two lasers is negligible. This is no longer true when coupling semiconductor lasers: the delay becomes an essential parameter. This feature, together with the phase-amplitude coupling characteristic of semiconductor lasers, is critical in experiments on synchronized chaos and results in a spontaneous symmetry breaking which appears as a time lag between the dynamics of two identical lasers [2][3][4][5][6].It was also shown that an asymmetry in the lasers forms a leading/lagging configuration where the leading laser synchronizes the lagging one, but not the converse [3]. Another property of mutually coupled semiconductor lasers is localized synchronization, where one of the lasers exhibits large amplitude oscillations whereas the other laser exhibits small amplitude oscillations. This effect was predicted for nearly identical solid-state lasers [7]. Experiments with two semiconductor lasers showed that even when the lasers are pumped at different levels and the lower-pumped laser drives the other laser, localized synchronization occurs and leads to relaxation at the same frequency in both lasers but with different amplitudes [8].In this letter, we report on a specific dynamical scenario for two semiconductor lasers coupled face-to-face, if the coupling time is greater than the coherence time of the lasers output.We show that, due to the nonlinear response of semiconductor lasers to external injection, there is a regime where the output of each laser is a staircase, each step having a duration equal to twice the coupling time, followed by an abrupt drop-off. This pattern can be periodic or chaotic. There are periodic solutions with different numbers of stairs: in this letter, we focus on the regime with only two stairs, but states with up to seven stairs have been observed. Numerical results suggest that, if the delay is larger than the laser coherence time, the number of stairs as well as the nature of the dynamical stateperiodic or chaotic-is independent of the delay and therefore of the number of steady states.In our model two identical single mode semiconductor lasers (L 1 and L 2 ) are coupled in a face-to-face configuration: the output of each laser is injected into the other laser. We assume that there is no self-coupling caused by reflections from the f...

show abstract

“…c 2018 Optical Society of America Phase locking of two coupled lasers operating with only one longitudinal mode was investigated over the years [1][2][3][4]. It was shown theoretically and experimentally that a simple relation exist between the coupling strength that is needed for phase locking and the frequency detuning between the lasers [4][5][6]. While a sharp transition from no phase locking to full phase locking when the coupling strength exceeds a critical value is predicted, the experimental results revealed a gradual transition, which could be explained by introducing noise to each laser [4,6].…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Phase locking of two coupled lasers with many longitudinal modes

et al. 2010

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Detailed experimental and theoretical investigations on two coupled fiber lasers, each with many longitudinal modes, reveal that the behavior of the longitudinal modes depends on both the coupling strength as well as the detuning between them. For low to moderate coupling strength only longitudinal modes which are common for both lasers phase-lock while those that are not common gradually disappear. For larger coupling strengths, the longitudinal modes that are not common reappear and phase-lock. When the coupling strength approaches unity the coupled lasers behave as a single long cavity with correspondingly denser longitudinal modes. Finally, we show that the gradual increase in phase-locking as a function of the coupling strength results from competition between phase-locked and non phase-locked longitudinal modes. c 2018 Optical Society of America Phase locking of two coupled lasers operating with only one longitudinal mode was investigated over the years [1][2][3][4]. It was shown theoretically and experimentally that a simple relation exist between the coupling strength that is needed for phase locking and the frequency detuning between the lasers [4][5][6]. While a sharp transition from no phase locking to full phase locking when the coupling strength exceeds a critical value is predicted, the experimental results revealed a gradual transition, which could be explained by introducing noise to each laser [4,6]. For lasers with many longitudinal modes it was shown that for strong coupling strength only common longitudinal modes survive, leading to full phase locking [7][8][9][10]. Yet, the detailed behavior of phase locking and the spectrum of longitudinal modes as a function of the coupling strength between coupled lasers were so far not reported.Here we present our investigations and results on two coupled fiber lasers, each operating with up to 20,000 longitudinal modes. Specifically, we show how the phase locking between the two lasers and their longitudinal mode spectrum vary as a function of the coupling strength which is continually and accurately controlled with polarization elements. We find a gradual increase in the number of longitudinal modes which are phase locked as the coupling strength increases, leading to a gradual transition from no phase locking to full phase locking without the need to introduce noise. We support the experimental results with calculations in which a modified effective reflectivity model is exploited.The experimental configuration for determining the phase locking and the spectrum of longitudinal modes for two coupled fiber lasers as a function of the coupling strength between them is presented in Fig. 1. Each fiber laser was comprised of a polarization maintaining Ytterbium doped fiber, where one end was attached to a high reflection fiber Bragg grating (FBG), with a central wavelength of 1064nm and a bandwidth of about 1nm, that served as a back reflector mirror, the other end attached to a collimating graded index (GRIN) lens with anti-reflection coating to suppress a...

show abstract

Coherence and phase dynamics of spatially coupled solid-state lasers

Cited by 264 publications

References 13 publications

Synchronization of micromasers

Synchronization of micromasers

Semiconductor lasers coupled face-to-face

Phase locking of two coupled lasers with many longitudinal modes

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About