Noise properties of semiconductor lasers due to optical feedback

It has been recognized for some time that reflections back into the cavity of an injection laser from a mechanically unstable external mirror cause noise in the output of the laser (reflection noise). In this paper, noise measurements are presented for index-guided lasers as functions of the output...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:IEEE journal of quantum electronics 1984-05, Vol.20 (5), p.472-478
Main Authors: Stubkjaer, K., Small, M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Acoustic reflection
Exact sciences and technology
Fundamental areas of phenomenology (including applications)
Laser feedback
Laser noise
Lasers
Noise reduction
Optical feedback
Optical modulation
Optical noise
Optical reflection
Optics
Physics
Semiconductor device noise
Semiconductor lasers
Semiconductor lasers
laser diodes
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Summary:It has been recognized for some time that reflections back into the cavity of an injection laser from a mechanically unstable external mirror cause noise in the output of the laser (reflection noise). In this paper, noise measurements are presented for index-guided lasers as functions of the output power, the degree of optical isolation and external cavity length (5-15 cm), while current modulation (using 2-4 mA at 50-200 MHz) has been used to reduce the noise levels by as much as 20 dB. It is demonstrated that the mechanism of noise reduction by modulation is the frequency modulation of the laser's spectrum and its interaction with the modes of the external cavity. It is shown that using an optical isolator can give a relative intensity noise of -110 dB while using modulation in addition can reduce this to -125 dB; the bandwidth performance of optical storage systems is discussed in terms of these two schemes.
ISSN:0018-9197
1558-1713
DOI:10.1109/JQE.1984.1072428