title: Polarization correlations in pulsed, vertical cavity, surface-emitting lasers.
abstract: We have examined noise behavior and polarization correlations in the output of a pulsed, multitransverse-mode, vertical-cavity, surface-emitting laser (VCSEL). We have measured the output of the laser simultaneously in two orthogonal, linear polarizations as a function of drive current for pulse widths of 3 ns, 10 ns, and 30 ns. We present joint probability distributions for the number of detected photoelectrons in each of the two polarization-resolved outputs. The joint distributions indicate that the correlations can be quite complicated, and are not completely described by a single number (i.e., the correlation coefficient). Furthermore, we find that the number of lasing modes appears to be the most important parameter in determining the degree of polarization correlation.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Shelly
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Garrison
authors.forename: M K
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Beck
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Christensen