Erratum to: Physics and applications of quantum dot lasers for silicon photonics.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1515/nanoph-2019-0570.].

Multimode description of self-mode locking in a single-section quantum-dot laser.

This paper describes a theory for mode locking and frequency comb generation by four-wave mixing in a semiconductor quantum-dot active medium. The derivation uses a multimode semiclassical laser theory that accounts for fast carrier collisions within an inhomogeneous distribution of quantum dots. Numerical simulations are presented to illustrate the role of active medium nonlinearities in mode competition, gain saturation, carrier-induced refractive index and creation of combination tones that lead to locking of beat frequencies among lasing modes in the presence of cavity material dispersion.

Determining the linewidth enhancement factor via optical feedback in quantum dot micropillar lasers.

The linewidth enhancement factor α is a key parameter determining the spectral and dynamical behavior of semiconductor lasers. Here, we propose and demonstrate a method for determining this parameter based on a direct measurement of variations in the laser gain and emission spectrum when subject to delayed optical feedback. We then use our approach to determine the pump current dependent linewidth enhancement factor of a high-β quantum dot micropillar laser.

Emission from quantum-dot high-β microcavities: transition from spontaneous emission to lasing and the effects of superradiant emitter coupling.

Measured and calculated results are presented for the emission properties of a new class of emitters operating in the cavity quantum electrodynamics regime. The structures are based on high-finesse GaAs/AlAs micropillar cavities, each with an active medium consisting of a layer of InGaAs quantum dots (QDs) and the distinguishing feature of having a substantial fraction of spontaneous emission channeled into one cavity mode (high β-factor). This paper demonstrates that the usual criterion for lasing with a conventional (low β-factor) cavity, that is, a sharp non-linearity in the input-output curve accompanied by noticeable linewidth narrowing, has to be reinforced by the equal-time second-order photon autocorrelation function to confirm lasing.

Amplitude-phase coupling and chirp in quantum-dot lasers: influence of charge carrier scattering dynamics.

We investigate the dependence of the amplitude-phase coupling in quantum-dot (QD) lasers on the charge-carrier scattering timescales. The carrier scattering processes influence the relaxation oscillation parameters, as well as the frequency chirp, which are both important parameters when determining the modulation performance of the laser device and its reaction to optical perturbations. We find that the FM/AM response exhibits a strong dependence on the modulation frequency, which leads to a modified optical response of QD lasers when compared to conventional laser devices.

Modeling of temperature and excitation dependences of efficiency in an InGaN light-emitting diode.

The changes in excitation dependence of efficiency with temperature are modeled for a wurtzite InGaN light-emitting diode. The model incorporates bandstructure changes with carrier density because of screening of quantum-confined Stark effect. Bandstructure is computed by solving Poisson and k · p equations in the envelope approximation.

Failure of the α factor in describing dynamical instabilities and chaos in quantum-dot lasers.

We show that the long-established concept of a linewidth-enhancement factor α to describe carrier-induced refractive index changes in semiconductor lasers breaks down in quantum-dot (QD) lasers when describing complex dynamic scenarios, found, for example, under high-excitation or optical injection. By comparing laser simulations using a constant α factor with results from a more complex nonequilibrium model that separately treats gain and refractive index dynamics, we examine the conditions under which an approximation of the amplitude-phase coupling by an α factor becomes invalid. The investigations show that while a quasiequilibrium approach for conventional quantum well lasers is valid over a reasonable parameter range, allowing one to introduce an α factor as a constant parameter, the concept is in general not applicable to predict QD laser dynamics due to the different time scales of the involved scattering processes.

Single-mode GaN nanowire lasers.

We demonstrate stable, single-frequency output from single, as-fabricated GaN nanowire lasers operating far above lasing threshold. Each laser is a linear, double-facet GaN nanowire functioning as gain medium and optical resonator, fabricated by a top-down technique that exploits a tunable dry etch plus anisotropic wet etch for precise control of the nanowire dimensions and high material gain. A single-mode linewidth of ~0.

Modeling excitation-dependent bandstructure effects on InGaN light-emitting diode efficiency.

Bandstructure properties in wurtzite quantum wells can change appreciably with changing carrier density because of screening of quantum-confined Stark effect. An approach for incorporating these changes in an InGaN light-emitting-diode model is described. Bandstructure is computed for different carrier densities by solving Poisson and k·p equations in the envelop approximation.

Observation of Rabi splitting from surface plasmon coupled conduction state transitions in electrically excited InAs quantum dots.

We demonstrate strong coupling between a surface plasmon and intersublevel transitions in self-assembled InAs quantum dots. The surface plasmon mode exists at the interface between the semiconductor emitter structure and a periodic array of holes perforating a metallic Pd/Ge/Au film that also serves as the top electrical contact for the emitters. Spectrally narrowed quantum-dot electroluminescence was observed for devices with varying subwavelength hole spacing.

Antibunching of thermal radiation by a room-temperature phonon bath: a numerically solvable model for a strongly interacting light-matter-reservoir system.

Progress in semiconductor technology introduces a new platform for quantum optics studies in solid state: a quantum dot strongly coupled to a cavity mode. We present a numerically solvable model for the combined electron, photon, and phonon dynamics. For a cavity mode prepared in a Fock state, the model reproduces the Jaynes-Cumming solution and interaction with a phonon bath leads to a higher value for the intensity-intensity correlation function: g;(2)(0).

Using chaos for remote sensing of laser radiation.

An idea is proposed for detecting a weak laser signal from a remote source in the presence of strong background noise. The scheme exploits dynamical nonlinearities arising from heterodyning signal and reference fields inside an active reference laser cavity. This paper shows that for certain reference laser configurations, the resulting bifurcations in the reference laser may be used as warning of irradiation by a laser source.

Circumventing the Manley-Rowe quantum efficiency limit in an optically pumped terahertz quantum-cascade amplifier.

Using a microscopic theory based on the Maxwell-semiconductor Bloch equations, we investigate the feasibility of an optically pumped electrically driven terahertz (THz) quantum-cascade laser as a pathway to room-temperature THz generation. In optical conversion schemes the power conversion efficiency is limited by the Manley-Rowe relation. We circumvent this constraint by incorporating an electrical bias in a four level intersubband scheme, thereby allowing coherent recovery of the optical pump energy.

Self-induced chaos in a single-mode inversionless laser.

A single-mode inversionless laser with a three-level phaseonium as an active medium can by itself exhibit complex nonlinear dynamics. Nonlinear interaction between two spectrally separated gain regions of the phaseonium and a lasing field gives rise to instabilities and chaotic self-pulsations of a type not observed in conventional lasers with population-inverted gain media. We calculate the bifurcation diagram and uncover multistability and a torus-doubling cascade in transition to chaos.

Chaos in practically isolated microcavity lasers.

We report that essentially isolated microcavity lasers may interact in the most complicated manner and drive each other chaotic. As the optical isolation between these lasers reaches presently practically attainable limits, instead of approaching independent operation, the lasers exhibit mutually induced chaotic oscillations. The chaos arises from an intricate coupling of the nonlinearities associated with coupled optical resonators and those evolving from the population dynamics in the active region.