Optically triggered polarisation bistability in GaInAsP twin stripe injection lasers using integrated devices

A bistable polarization switching element and optical triggering source has been produced by etching a facet in a twin stripe semiconductor laser. The switching element is formed by a pair of stripe segments at one end of the device and triggered with short light pulses from the other two segments. Detector limited switching risetimes have been measured at 250 ps.

Characteristics of the spectral dynamics of picosecond modulated AlGaAs/GaAs injection lasers

Breakdown of the optical spectrum of a train of picosecond pulses into components with a distance which exceeds kT (200 cm-1 at λ = 955 nm and T = 300 K) is discovered for the first time in an injection laser. The effect may be caused by combined interaction between photons and phonons, with collective excitations in the degraded electron-hole GaAs plasma, and with the stream of drifting carriers in the active medium of the laser.