Two-wavelength switching with a 1550 nm VCSEL under single orthogonal optical injection

Antonio Hurtado*, Ian D. Henning, Michael J. Adams

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

68 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

We report the first experimental observation of three distinct forms of two-wavelength switching (clockwise, anticlockwise, and butterfly) for a 1550 nm vertical cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL) operated just above threshold and subject to orthogonally polarized optical injection. The spectrum of the device exhibits two modes, a main mode emitting in a "parallel" polarization and a subsidiary "orthogonal" polarized mode. Low input-power switching of the emission wavelength of the VCSEL by an orthogonally polarized external optical signal injected to the long-wavelength side of the subsidiary mode is observed. Clock-wise switching and bistability of the main lasing mode with very high on-off contrast ratio has been measured in all cases. Three different switching shapes: anticlockwise, butterfly, and clock-wise, have been measured for the output of the optically injected VCSEL. This diversity of switching behavior with a 1550 nm VCSEL subject to optical injection offers promise for the use of these devices in all-optical switching/routing as well as optical interconnect applications.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)911-917
Number of pages7
JournalIEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Quantum Electronics
Volume14
Issue number3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 May 2008

Keywords

  • light polarization
  • optical bistability
  • two-wavelength switching
  • vertical cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL)

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