Semiconductor laser under resonant feedback from a Fabry-Perot resonator: Stability of continuous-wave operation

We study the continuous-wave (cw) operation of a semiconductor laser subject to optical feedback from a Fabry-Perot resonator in a case where the emission is resonant to a reflection minimum of the resonator. This configuration is treated in the framework of Lang-Kobayashi equations. The nature of bifurcations and the stability of steady state solutions is analyzed in terms of the dependence on magnitude and phase of the feedback. In contrast to conventional optical feedback from a single mirror, the locus of external cavity modes is not elliptic but represents a tilted eight with possible satellite bubbles. Below a critical feedback strength, which is analytically given, only one single mode exists representing the completely unchanged cw emission of the laser. In this weak-feedback regime, the feedback phase allows noninvasive control of the cw emission and a tailoring of its small-signal response within wide limits. The results obtained are a prototype for all-optical realizations of delayed feedback control.