Spectrum collapse, narrow linewidth, and Bogatov effect in diode lasers locked to high-Q optical microresonators

We present a novel method allowing high-power single-frequency emission with sub-kHz linewidth from a compact multi-frequency diode laser locked to high-Q optical microresonator. Using high-Q MgF2 microresonator and multi-frequency diode laser operating at 1535 nm with the output power of 100 mW and an emission spectrum consisting of approximately 50 lines with MHz linewidth, we observed a spectrum collapse to a single line or several lines with a sub-kHz linewidth and output power power of 50 mW. The Bogatov effect predicted more than 30 years ago was observed and studied in the spectrum of the locked laser. For analysis of the considered effect of the original theoretical model, taking into account self-injection locking effect, mode competition and Bogatov asymmetric mode interaction was developed and numerical modeling was performed. All numerical results are in agreement with our experimental data. Accurate analytical estimations for the parameters critical for the considered effect were obtained. The proposed method may be applied to different types of diode lasers operating in different spectral ranges. (C) 2018 Optical Society of America under the terms of the OSA Open Access Publishing Agreement