Pulse operation of semiconductor laser with nonlinear optical feedback

conference 5452 « Semiconductor Lasers and Laser Dynamics », session 4 « Short Pulses and Mode-Locking » [5452-18]; International audience; A semiconductor laser coupled to a gallium-made non linear mirror may exhibit pulse regime. In order to better understand this coupled cavity, stationary solutions and dynamics are described following the standard Lang and Kobayashi equations for a semiconductor laser submitted to nonlinear optical feedback. It is shown that the nonlinearity distorts the ellipse on which lied the stationary solutions, with a "higher" part corresponding to lower reflectivity and a "lower" part to higher reflectivity. Bifurcation diagrams and nonlinear analysis are presented while the conditions for pulsed operation are discussed.