Mode Control of Quasi-PT Symmetry in Laterally Multi-Mode Double Ridge Semiconductor Laser *

Abstract

In traditional semiconductor lasers, it is usual to obtain single lateral mode operation by narrowing the ridge of waveguide, which is sensitive to fabrication inaccuracies. To overcome this shortcoming, a quasi-PT (parity-time) symmetric double ridge semiconductor laser is proposed to reach single lateral mode operation for an intrinsic multi-mode stripe laser. The coupled mode theory is used to analyze the non-Hermitian modulation of the gain (or loss) of the PT symmetric double ridge laser to obtain the coupling coefficient between the two ridge waveguides. Finally, the mode field distributions of the quasi-PT symmetric double ridge laser are simulated before and after the spontaneous PT symmetry breaking, which keep the laser operating in single lateral mode.