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Stokes vector characterization of the polarization behavior of vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers
Andreas Molitor1, Sébastien Hartmann, Wolfgang Elsässer
1Institute of Applied Physics, Technical University Darmstadt, Schlossgartenstrasse 7, Darmstadt 64289, Germany. andreas.molitor@physik.tu‑darmstadt.de
Abstract:
We demonstrate that a full polarization analysis in terms of the Stokes vector parameters is necessary to determine the polarization state of light emitted by vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs). For three selected representative VCSEL devices, we measured the injection current dependence of the three Stokes parameters and compared these results with linearly selected polarization P-I curves, clearly demonstrating that a complete polarization analysis is required to unveil the full polarization behavior.
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