Laser Optical Feedback Turns 60.

As soon as a laser is fired, some of the emitted light is scattered backward and coupled with the cavity modes, causing instability [...

Damping of relaxation oscillations, photon-photon resonance, and tolerance to external optical feedback of III-V/SiN hybrid lasers with a dispersive narrow band mirror.

We address the stability of a tunable hybrid laser based on a III-V Reflective Semiconductor Optical Amplifier (RSOA) edge-coupled with a Silicon Photonic (SiPh) dispersive mirror through a model of time-delayed algebraic differential equations that accounts for the narrow band mirror. Our results allow to (i) analyze the stability of single mode lasing, (ii) quantify the impact of the mirror bandwidth on the damping of the laser relaxation oscillations and the emergence of photon-photon resonance, and (iii) study the tolerance of the laser to the external optical feedback. Thanks to this analysis, we find a mirror design that gives ultra-high stability up to an external feedback level of -10 dB.

Versatile Multimodality Imaging System Based on Detectorless and Scanless Optical Feedback Interferometry-A Retrospective Overview for A Prospective Vision.

In this retrospective compendium, we attempt to draw a "fil rouge" along fifteen years of our research in the field of optical feedback interferometry aimed at guiding the readers to the verge of new developments in the field. The general reader will be moved at appreciating the versatility and the still largely uncovered potential of the optical feedback interferometry, for both sensing and imaging applications. By discovering the broad range of available wavelengths (0.

Coherent multi-mode dynamics in a quantum cascade laser: amplitude- and frequency-modulated optical frequency combs.

We cast a theoretical model based on effective semiconductor Maxwell-Bloch equations and study the dynamics of a multi-mode mid-infrared quantum cascade laser in a Fabry-Perot configuration with the aim to investigate the spontaneous generation of optical frequency combs. This model encompasses the key features of a semiconductor active medium, such as asymmetric, frequency-dependent gain and refractive index as well as the phase-amplitude coupling of the field dynamics provided by the linewidth enhancement factor, and some specific resonator features, such as spatial hole burning. Our numerical simulations are in excellent agreement with recent experimental results, showing broad ranges of comb formation in locked regimes, separated by chaotic dynamics when the field modes unlock.

Self-pulsing in single section ring lasers based on quantum dot materials: theory and simulations.

We studied theoretically coherent phenomena in the multimode dynamics of single section semiconductor ring lasers with quantum dots (QDs) active region. In the unidirectional ring configuration our simulations show the occurrence of self-mode-locking in the system leading to ultra-short pulses (sub-picoseconds) with a terahertz repetition rate. As confirmed by the linear stability analysis (LSA) of the traveling wave (TW) solutions this phenomenon is triggered by an analogous of the Risken-Nummedal-Graham-Haken (RNGH) instability affecting the multimode dynamics of two-level lasers.

Self-generation of optical frequency comb in single section quantum dot Fabry-Perot lasers: a theoretical study.

Optical Frequency Comb (OFC) generated by semiconductor lasers are currently widely used in the extremely timely field of high capacity optical interconnects and high precision spectroscopy. In the last decade, several experimental evidences of spontaneous OFC generation have been reported in single section Quantum Dot (QD) lasers. Here we provide a physical understanding of these self-organization phenomena by simulating the multi-mode dynamics of a single section Fabry-Perot (FP) QD laser using a Time-Domain Traveling-Wave (TDTW) model that properly accounts for coherent radiation-matter interaction in the semiconductor active medium and includes the carrier grating generated by the optical standing wave pattern in the laser cavity.

Study of QCL Laser Sources for the Realization of Advanced Sensors.

We study the nonlinear dynamics of a quantum cascade laser (QCL) with a strong reinjection provided by the feedback from two external targets in a double cavity configuration. The nonlinear coupling of interferometric signals from the two targets allows us to propose a displacement sensor with nanometric resolution. The system exploits the ultra-stability of QCLs in self-mixing configuration to access the intrinsic nonlinearity of the laser, described by the Lang-Kobayashi model, and it relies on a stroboscopic-like effect in the voltage signal registered at the QCL terminals that relates the "slow" target motion to the "fast" target one.