High-Frequency Microwave Signal Generation Using Multi-Transverse Mode Vcsels Subject to Two-Frequency Optical Injection
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High-frequency microwave signal generation using multi-transverse mode VCSELs subject to two-frequency optical injection A. Quirce1,2 and A. Valle1,* 1Instituto de Física de Cantabria, CSIC-Universidad de Cantabria, Avda. Los Castros s/n, E-39005, Santander, Spain 2Departamento de Física Moderna, Universidad de Cantabria, Avda. Los Castros s/n, E-39005, Santander, Spain *[email protected] Abstract: In this paper we report a new method of photonic generation of microwave signals using a multi-transverse mode VCSEL subject to two- frequency optical injection. Numerical simulations show that double injection locking involving two transverse modes can be obtained in these systems. We show that the higher-order transverse mode is excited with a much larger amplitude than that of the fundamental transverse mode. The comparison with the case of a single-transverse mode VCSEL subject to similar two-frequency optical injection shows that multi-transverse mode operation of the VCSEL enhances the performance of the photonic microwave generation system. Broad tuning ranges, beyond the THz region, and narrow linewidths are demonstrated in our system. The maximum frequency of the generated microwave signals can be substantially increased if multimode VCSELs are used instead of single-mode VCSELs. ©2012 Optical Society of America OCIS codes: (140.5960) Semiconductor lasers; (250.7260) Vertical cavity surface emitting lasers; (140.3520) Lasers, injection-locked. References and links 1. J. Ohtsubo, Semiconductor Lasers. Stability, Instability and Chaos, Springer Series in Optical Sciences (Springer, 2007). 2. F. Koyama, “Recent advances of VCSEL photonics,” J. Lightwave Technol. 24(12), 4502–4513 (2006). 3. C.-H. Chang, L. Chrostowski, and C. J. Chang-Hasnain, “Injection locking of VCSELs,” IEEE J. Sel. 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Chow, “Bifurcations and chaos in a semiconductor laser with coherent or noisy optical injection,” Opt. Commun. 282(12), 2367–2379 (2009). 28. J. Martin-Regalado, F. Prati, M. San Miguel, and N. B. Abraham, “Polarization properties of vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers,” IEEE J. Quantum Electron. 33(5), 765–783 (1997). 1. Introduction Optical injection is a technique that is commonly employed to improve the performance of semiconductor lasers without modifying their design [1]. Attention has been paid recently on the effects of optical injection on a special type of semiconductor laser: the vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) [2–10]. VCSELs have demonstrated many impressive characteristics, including low threshold current, single-longitudinal mode operation, circular beam profile and easy fabrication in large two-dimensional arrays [2]. Locking of the frequency of the injected (slave) VCSEL to the one of the injecting (master) laser has been shown for reduction of the VCSEL linewidth or for an enhancement of its modulation bandwidth [3–5]. Emission in multiple transverse modes is usually found in solitary VCSELs [11] as a result of spatial-hole burning effect [12]. The effect of single-frequency optical injection on multi-transverse mode VCSELs has been also recently studied, showing that transverse mode selection or polarization switching can appear in these systems [7–10]. Recent experimental work has also demonstrated single-mode [13] and multimode [14] VCSEL-by-VCSEL optical injection locking. Nonlinear dynamics of optically injected semiconductor lasers can also be used for photonic microwave generation [15–22]. Compared with conventional microwave generation by electronic circuitry with multiple stages of frequency doubling, photonic microwave signal generation have the advantages of lower cost, longer transmission distance, higher speed, low power consumption, less system complexity and the ability to generate tunable microwave signals with higher frequencies [19], [21]. Photonic microwave generation find applications in radio-over-fiber (RoF) technology that holds great promise for 4G mobile communications systems [19]. Both single-beam optically injected semiconductor lasers [15–19] and dual- beam, or two-frequency, optically injected semiconductor lasers [19–22] have been considered. Tunable narrow-linewidth microwave signals have been generated by using the period-one (P1) oscillations states that appear when the semiconductor laser is subject to a #165345 - $15.00 USD Received 23 Mar 2012; revised 13 Apr 2012; accepted 18 Apr 2012; published 30 May 2012 (C) 2012 OSA 4 June 2012 / Vol. 20, No. 12 / OPTICS EXPRESS 13391 single-beam optical injection scheme [19]. Photonic microwaves from the P1 oscillation of an optically injected edge-emitter semiconductor laser have reached frequencies beyond 100 GHz [18]. The tuning range of the generated microwave signals is limited to several tens of GHz [21]. Recently a very high frequency (121.7 GHz) microwave signal has been generated by using a dual-beam optically injected single-mode DFB semiconductor laser [21]. Simultaneous injection of two laser beams transforms the slave laser into a dual-wavelength laser in such a way that the frequency of the generated microwave signal can be easily tuned by adjusting the frequency spacing between the two master lasers [21]. Double injection locked states are observed when the slave laser is subject to strong optical injection by both master lasers in such a way that stable locking is also observed if only light of one of the master lasers is injected [21–22].