Dresden 2009 – scientific programme

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DS: Fachverband Dünne Schichten

DS 6: Nanophotonics - Theory of Nanophotonic Devices II

DS 6.1: Topical Talk

Monday, March 23, 2009, 14:00–14:30, GER 38

All-optical memory based on a two-mode laser diode — •Andreas Amann, Simon Osborne, and Stephen O’Brien — Tyndall National Institute, University College Cork, Ireland

We present a method for tailoring the spectrum of an optical resonator by the use of additional perturbative features. For a predefined mode spectrum, the position of the features are obtained by solving an associated inverse problem. We have employed this method to design a two-mode edge emitting Fabry-Perót laser diode with a primary mode spacing in the THz regime.

Under optical injection into one of the modes this two-mode laser shows experimentally a number of complex dynamical phenomena as the injection strength and the detuning of the injected mode are varied. In particular the observed bistability between a single-mode locked state and a two-mode lasing state allows us to realize an all-optical memory element, where the switching is realized via a modulation of either the strength or the detuning of the injected mode. We are able to accurately reproduce and understand the observed phenomena on the basis of a surprisingly simple rate equation model.