Modulation Characteristics of Period-One Oscillations in Quantum Cascade Lasers

Quantum cascade lasers subject to tilted optical feedback produce periodic oscillations, quasi-periodic oscillations, and low-frequency oscillations. This work presents the modulation characteristics of period-one (P1) oscillations in a quantum cascade laser with tilted optical feedback. The electrical signal at the oscillation frequency is more than 50 dB higher than the noise level, and the electrical linewidth is less than 2.0 kHz. This electrical linewidth is about four orders of magnitude narrower than the optical linewidth (around 16 MHz) of the free-running laser, which suggests that the optical sidebands induced by the P1 oscillations are highly coherent with the main optical mode. In addition, the modulation depth of the optical signal is found to be in the range of 1% to 3.5%. In addition, it is verified in the simulations that the P1 oscillations induce not only amplitude modulation but also frequency modulation due to the phase-amplitude coupling effect.

Automated summary

This study focuses on the modulation characteristics of period-one oscillations in a quantum cascade laser subjected to tilted optical feedback. The electrical signal at the oscillation frequency is more than 50 dB higher than the noise level, with an electrical linewidth less than 2.0 kHz, about four orders of magnitude narrower than the optical linewidth of the free-running laser. Additionally, simulations show that the period-one oscillations induce both amplitude modulation and frequency modulation.