Competition between Entrainment Phenomenon and Chaos in a Quantum-Cascade Laser under Strong Optical Reinjection

Abstract

The topic of external optical feedback in quantum-cascade lasers is relevant for stability and beam-properties considerations. Albeit less sensitive to external optical feedback than other lasers, quantum-cascade lasers can exhibit several behaviors under such feedback, and those are relevant for a large panel of applications, from communication to ranging and sensing. This work focused on a packaged Fabry–Perot quantum-cascade laser under strong external optical feedback and shows the influence of the beam-splitter characteristics on the optical power properties of this commercially available laser. The packaged quantum-cascade laser showed extended conditions of operation when subject to strong optical feedback, and the maximum power that can be extracted from the external cavity was also increased. When adding a periodic electrical perturbation, various non-linear dynamics were observed, and this complements previous efforts about the entrainment phenomenon in monomode quantum-cascade lasers, with the view of optimizing private communication based on mid-infrared quantum-cascade lasers. Overall, this work is a step forward in understanding the behavior of the complex quantum-cascade-laser structure when it is subjected to external optical feedback.

Document Details

Document Type
Pub Defense Publication
Publication Date
Jan 04, 2022
Source ID
10.3390/photonics9010029

Entities

People

  • Frédéric Grillot
  • Lauréline Durupt
  • Olivier Spitz

Organizations

  • Agence Nationale de la Recherche
  • Direction générale de l'Armement

Tags

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Control Systems Engineering.
  • Military History
  • Optical Physics and Photonics.

Technology Areas

  • Directed Energy
  • Quantum Computing