Two channel photonic microwave generation based on period-one oscillations of two orthogonally polarized modes in a vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser subjected to an elliptically polarized optical injection

Abstract

Previous investigations demonstrated that a semiconductor laser subjected to optical injection can realize period-one (P1) oscillation output under suitable operational parameters, which can be used to obtain high quality photonic microwave. In this paper, we propose a scheme for simultaneously generating two channel photonic microwave based on the P1 oscillations of two orthogonally polarization modes in a vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) subjected to an elliptical polarization optical injection, and the relevant characteristics of obtained photonic microwave are numerically simulated and analyzed. The results show that under suitable operational parameters, a free-running VCSEL (named master VCSEL, M-VCSEL) can output an elliptical polarization light in which both X and Y polarization components of the elliptical polarization light oscillate at the same frequency. By using the elliptical polarization light from the M-VCSEL as an injection light into another VCSEL (named slave VCSEL, S-VCSEL), both two polarization components of the S-VCSEL can be driven into P1 oscillation through selecting suitable injection strength under a fixed frequency detuning between the M-VCSEL and the S-VCSEL. Based on the P1 oscillation, two orthogonally photonic microwave signals can be obtained. With the increase of the injection strength from the M-VCSEL, the frequency of photonic microwave shows a gradually increasing trend while the power of photonic microwave displays an increasing process accompanied by slight ripples. Combining the distribution mappings of the frequency, the power, and the amplitude difference between the first sideband and the second sideband of the photonic microwave in the parameter space of the injection strength and the frequency detuning, certain regions with optimally operational parameters can be determined for acquiring high quality photonic microwave.