Amplification of optical signals in a bistable vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser by vibrational resonance

The paper presents the results of the experimental study of an application of the phenomenon of vibrational resonance (VR) for enhancement of the response of a bistable vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) to the effect of optical modulating signals. Specifically, two different cases were investigated: (a) the control of all-optical switching caused by a modulated orthogonal optical injection from another VCSEL and (b) the amplification of autodyne signals from a vibrating diffusely reflecting surface in the self-mixing optical interferometry. It is experimentally demonstrated that an application of the phenomenon of VR in both cases studied leads to a strong amplification of the input optical signals by a factor from 10 to 200 depending on the experimental conditions with respect to the initial values. The effect of the asymmetry of a bistable potential on the amplification factor was also studied. The results obtained can be used to improve all-optical switchings for application in communication systems and enhancement of autodyne signals in self-mixing optical interferometry. This article is part of the theme issue 'Vibrational and stochastic resonance in driven nonlinear systems (part 1)'.