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Saturable nonlinear dielectric waveguide with applications to broad-area semiconductor lasers
Optics Letters
|September 11, 2009
Summary
Self-focusing in saturable nonlinear dielectric waveguides creates stable laser filaments. Filament spacing in broad-area semiconductor lasers depends inversely on threshold gain, predicting wider filaments in low-threshold devices.
Area of Science:
- Nonlinear optics
- Semiconductor laser physics
Background:
- Broad-area semiconductor lasers often exhibit filamentation due to self-focusing.
- Understanding the behavior of these filaments is crucial for laser design and performance.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate self-focusing in passive dielectric waveguides with saturable nonlinearity.
- To approximate the lateral modes of broad-area semiconductor lasers under pulsed conditions.
Main Methods:
- Studied self-focusing in a passive dielectric waveguide with saturable nonlinearity.
- Analyzed eigensolutions as approximations for laser lateral modes.
Main Results:
- Predicted laser modes consist of in-phase coupled filaments, resulting in a single-lobed far field.
- Modes are stable with increased current injection above saturation intensity.
- Filament spacing is inversely proportional to threshold gain.
Conclusions:
- Eigensolutions provide a good approximation for broad-area semiconductor laser modes.
- Wider filaments are expected in low-threshold broad-area lasers due to the inverse relationship between spacing and gain.
