Excitable Interplay Between Lasing Quantum Dot States

Authors

Michael Dillane, Department of Physics, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland
I. Dubinkin, National Research University of Information Technologies, Mechanics and Optics, Saint Petersburg, Russia
N. Fedorov, National Research University of Information Technologies, Mechanics and Optics, Saint Petersburg, Russia
T. Erneux, Optique Nonlinéaire Théorique, Campus Plaine, CP 231, 1050 Bruxelles, Belgium
David Goulding, Centre for Advanced Photonics and Process Analysis, Cork Institute of Technology, Cork, Ireland; Tyndall National Institute, University College Cork, Lee Maltings, Dyke Parade, Cork, Ireland; Department of Mathematics, Cork Institute of Technology, Cork, IrelandFollow
B. Kelleher, Department of Physics, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland
E.A. Viktorov, National Research University of Information Technologies, Mechanics and Optics, Saint Petersburg, Russia

ORCID

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1529-8415

Document Type

Article

Disciplines

Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics | Physical Sciences and Mathematics | Physics

Publication Details

Physical Review E, Vol. 100, No. 1. ©2019 American Physical Society

Abstract

The optically injected semiconductor laser system has proven to be an excellent source of experimental nonlinear dynamics, particularly regarding the generation of excitable pulses. Typically for low-injection strengths, these pulses are the result of a small above-threshold perturbation of a stable steady state, the underlying physics is well described by the Adler phase equation, and each laser intensity pulse is accompanied by a 2π phase rotation. In this article, we show how, with a dual-state quantum dot laser, a variation of type I excitability is possible that cannot be described by the Adler model. The laser is operated so that emission is from the excited state only. The ground state can be activated and phase locked to the master laser via optical injection while the excited state is completely suppressed. Close to the phase-locking boundary, a region of ground-state emission dropouts correlated to excited-state pulses can be observed. We show that the phase of the ground state undergoes bounded rotations due to interactions with the excited state. We analyze the system both experimentally and numerically and find excellent agreement. Particular attention is devoted to the bifurcation conditions needed for an excitable pulse as well as its time evolution.

Recommended Citation

Dillane, M., Dubinkin, I., Fedorov, N., Erneux, T., Goulding, D., Kelleher, B. and Viktorov, E. A. (2019) 'Excitable interplay between lasing quantum dot states', Physical Review E, 100(1), 012202 (6pp). doi: 10.1103/PhysRevE.100.012202 © 2019, American Physical Society. All rights reserved.