Microscopic Model of a Semiconductor Diode Laser Operating in the Ultrashort Pulse Emission Regime (University of Central Florida)
Abstract
Navy needs high power ultrashort pulse lasers for wide variety of applications including (but not limited to) directed energy, air-underwater and underwater communication, and underwatersensing. Semiconductor diodes are capable of producing picosecond, sub-picosecond, and femtosecond pulses however power per pulse is not high. Increasing power per pulse, decreasingpulse width and increasing the efficiency of diode laser operation is very important for Navys directed energy mission. Our proposed work addresses these important topics. We propose a novel diode laser description that offers valuable design tools for ultrashort-pulsed diode laser fabrication and efficient diode laser operation.Laser cavities consist of a very large number of carriers (emitters) that emit light. These emitters interact with each other and also are subjected to interaction with the light reflected from the both mirrors forming the laser cavity. Each of these emitters can be thought of as diode laser amplifiers interacting with each other directly and via external mirrors. Such interactions mayresult in light emission amplification and almost perfect coherent emission from the diode laser cavity. Typical descriptions of laser operation are based on laser equations which requires knowledge of diode laser parameters that many of them are determined experimentally. These parameters as well as external diode laser operational parameters define how laser operates,including laser pulse shape, pulse power, and laser operation efficiency.In our proposed research, we are offering a nonlinear network based diode laser description that is spotlighted on phase synchronization (phase locking) of multiple carriers (emitters) forming diode laser cavity. Each emitter can be described by the rate equations similar to the equationsfor diode laser and coupling terms between the emitters will be determined by numerically solving Maxwell propagating equations inside the laser cavity and consequently formulating analytical description for laser coupling field. To verify our proposed model based on a simple coupled equation description of coupled emitters within diode laser, we will utilize a highresolutionmodel to solve the coupled electromagnetic equations and rate populations using a Maxwell-Bloch approach or related method. Once verified, our models can be employed to study formation of ultrashort-pulsed emission from the laser. All the major ultrashort pulse generation mechanisms will be explored, including gain switching, Q-switching, and mode-locking. Such a description will allow us to explore diode laser operation and, in particular, to explore how toincrease pulse power, decrease pulse width, and increase the efficiency of ultrafast diode laser.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Apr 29, 2020
- Source ID
- N000142012310
Entities
People
- Y. Braiman
Organizations
- Office of Naval Research
- United States Navy
- University of Central Florida Board of Trustees