Bifurcation to polarization self-modulation in vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers
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Updated: Jul 10, 2026

Automation of Mode Locking in a Nonlinear Polarization Rotation Fiber Laser through Output Polarization Measurements
Published on: February 28, 2016
Abstract:
Experiments have yielded polarization self-modulation in vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) subject to a pi/2 polarization-rotating optical feedback. The phenomenon has been simulated numerically, but its bifurcation has never been explained. We show that polarization self-modulation results from a Hopf bifurcation mechanism that can be analyzed in terms of the laser feedback parameters. Our analysis predicts other bifurcations for low values of the feedback rate, which explain why more-complex time-dependent outputs have been observed as alternatives to polarization self-modulation.
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