Nonlinear Dynamics in Semiconductor Lasers - Abstract

Otto, Christian

Passively mode-locked lasers subject to feedback - delay induced dynamics and timing jitter reduction

We study a passively mode-locked semiconductor laser subject to optical feedback from an external mirror. Using a delay differential equation model for the mode locked laser we are able to systematically investigate the resonance effects of the inter-spike interval time of the laser and the roundtrip time of the light in the external cavity (delay time $tau$) for intermediate and long delay times. We observe synchronization plateaus following the ordering of the well-known Farey sequence. For intermediate delay times a reduction of the timing jitter is only possible, if the delay time is chosen close to an integer multiple of the inter-spike interval time of the laser without external feedback. However, the widths of the $tau$-intervals, in which the timing jitter is reduced, increase with the delay time.