Nonlinear dynamics of 1550 nm vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser with polarization- preserved optical feedback

Abstract

Based on the framework of the spin-flip model, the nonlinear dynamics of 1550 nm vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) subject to polarization-preserved optical feedback is theoretically investigated. The results show that for a free-running 1550 nm-VCSEL, the current value for polarization switching (PS) is affected seriously by the internal parameters; with the increase of the gain anisotropy coefficient γa, the corresponding current for PS increases. Due to the introduction of the polarization-preserved optical feedback, the dominant polarized mode (Y polarized mode) will display different dynamical states for different injection currents while the other mode (X polarized mode) may be excited. As a result, the average output powers of the two polarized modes increase with fluctuation with the increase of current. For different feedback times, the dynamic states of 1550 nm-VCSEL with polarization- preserved optical feedback maybe route into chaos via different evolution paths such as period doubling bifurcation, quasi-periodic bifurcation and intermittent chaos.