Gain-Switched Short Pulse Generation from 1.55 µm InAs/InP/(113)B Quantum Dot Laser Modeled Using Multi-Population Rate Equations

Abstract

The gain-switching properties of an InAs-InP (113)B quantum dot laser based on multi-population rate equations are examined theoretically in detail to generate shorter pulses with the application of a Gaussian pulse beam to the laser excited state. The numerical results demonstrated that as the homogeneous and the inhomogeneous broadening increase, the differential gain, the gain compression factor, and the threshold current of the excited state decrease while the threshold current of the ground state increases. It was also observed that the contribution of the excited state to gain-switched output pulses depend on not only the value of the inhomogeneous broadening but also the magnitude of the applied current. Additionally, it was found that without an optical beam, the output pulse has a long pulse width due to ground state emissions and the change in the parameters strongly affecting the output. However, under the optical beam, narrow pulses around 26 ps have high peak power owing to the excited state emission generated even at low currents and also the change in the laser parameters having a negligible effect. Finally, the gain-switching characteristics with and without a Gaussian pulse beam are shown to be similar for liner-gain and nonlinear-gain cases except that higher peak power and narrower output pulses are obtained for the linear-gain case.

Keywords

• gain-switching
• semiconductor laser
• quantum-dot
• homogeneous-broadening
• inhomogeneous-broadening
• pulse generation