Dynamics of Semiconductor Lasers with External Cavity

Faculty: Tamas Wiandt

Summary:

Semiconductor lasers, due to their compact size, offer a wide variety of applications in various fields, particularly in optical data recording and optical fiber communications.
A short list of everyday uses includes dvd and cd players, laser pointers and laser sights, aircraft navigation, rangefinders, barcode readers, laser printers, image scanning and laser surgery.  Another area where a breakthrough is expected in the near future is the use of optical devices in microprocessors and optical connections inside computers, which promises a fundamental change in the shape of computing over the long term.

One of the main deterministic models which attempts to describe the behavior of semiconductor lasers is the Lang-Kobayashi delay differential equations.  We are investigating the solutions of this system of equations and some of the bifurcation scenarios which the model predicts.

Publications:

1. Lang and Kobayashi phase equation, P.M. Alsing, V. Kovanis, A. Gavrielides, and T. Erneux, Physical Review A, 53 4429-4434 (1996).
   
   
2. Bifurcation to mixed external cavity mode solutions for semiconductor lasers subject to optical feedback, T. Erneux, F. Rogister, A. Gavrielides, and V. Kovanis, Optics Communications, 183, 467-477 (2000).
   
   
3. Pulsating external cavity semiconductor lasers, V. Kovanis and T. Wiandt (in progress).

Collaborators:

Vassilios Kovanis (Air Force Research Labs)

Students:

Emma Hinke
Natasha Kholgade
Karen Jackmin
Stanley Snelson (Columbia University)
Sara Reynolds (Nazareth College)