Fast, electrically controlled polarization modulation of multimode vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers by RF...

Area of Science:

• Optoelectronics
• Semiconductor Lasers
• Photonics

Background:

• Vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSEL) are crucial optoelectronic devices.
• Understanding polarization properties is key for advanced applications.
• Multimode VCSELs exhibit complex polarization behavior under modulation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the polarization properties of asymmetric, multimode VCSELs under electrical RF modulation.
• To explore methods for achieving fast polarization modulation in VCSELs.
• To demonstrate the feasibility of rapid RF frequency switching for polarization control.

Main Methods:

• Subjecting asymmetric, multimode VCSELs to electrical RF modulation.
• Analyzing frequency-dependent polarization characteristics, particularly near polarization switching points.
• Implementing a scheme of rapidly switching two RF frequencies modulating the VCSEL.

Main Results:

• Complex frequency-dependent polarization properties were revealed under RF modulation.
• Fast polarization modulation up to 300 MHz was achieved by modulating RF frequency.
• Polarization modulation up to 1.5 GHz was demonstrated using RF power modulation.

Conclusions:

• Rapidly switching RF frequencies is an effective scheme for fast polarization modulation in multimode VCSELs.
• This study demonstrates the fastest electrically controlled polarization modulation for multimode VCSELs reported to date.
• The findings pave the way for high-speed polarization-controlled optoelectronic devices.