Tristability of a semiconductor laser due to time-delayed optical feedback.
We present an experimental and theoretical study of multistability of a single-mode laser subject to feedback through phase tuning and amplifier sections integrated on the same chip. Closely above threshold, a regime of tristability of continuous-wave (CW) states is found for multiple ranges of amplifier and phase currents. The separation between the tristable wavelengths agrees with the channel spacing of dense wavelength multiplexing in the C band of optical communication making the device interesting for ternary logic applications. Complementary theoretical investigations in the framework of the paradigmatic Lang-Kobayashi model provide a consistent understanding of the experimental findings and additionally yield an analytic formula expressing the maximum number of coexisting stable CW states by the linewidth-enhancement factor alpha . Tristability belongs to the alpha range from 5 to 8 in good agreement with experiment.
Loose
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AG Photonik, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Newtonstrasse 15, 12485 Berlin, Germany.
Goswami
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BK
Wünsche
H-J
HJ
Henneberger
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