Switching time in optically bistable injection-locked semiconductor lasers

Switching between states in a dispersive bistable injection-locked slave laser has been theoretically investigated. We show that the switching can be achieved by relatively small and short (approximate to 10-50 ps) variation of the master laser injection power or frequency, which, besides the variation of the slave laser optical power, leads to significant variation of its photon phase (approximate to 5 pi/6). By using an analytical model, we calculate the switching time dependence on the magnitude of the injection power and the frequency detuning variation. (C) 2011 Optical Society of America