Electrical polarization control of vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers using polarized feedback and a liquid crystal

Author

Wilkinson, C.I. ; Woodhead, J. ; Frost, J.E.F. ; Roberts, J.S. ; Wilson, R. ; Lewis, M.F.

Author_Institution

Dept. of Electron. & Electr. Eng., Sheffield Univ., UK

Volume

11

Issue

2

fYear

1999

Firstpage

155

Lastpage

157

Abstract

We report electrical control of the polarization state of a vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL), The VCSEL is subject to strong external optical feedback (up to 6% of emission), with polarization controlled by a liquid-crystal (LC) element, It is found that the contrast ratio of the complete system can be enhanced compared to the contrast ratio of the LC element alone.

Keywords

distributed Bragg reflector lasers; laser feedback; light polarisation; liquid crystal devices; semiconductor lasers; surface emitting lasers; DBR lasers; VCSEL; contrast ratio; electrical polarization control; liquid crystal; liquid-crystal element; polarization state; polarized feedback; strong external optical feedback; vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers; Distributed Bragg reflectors; Laser feedback; Liquid crystals; Mirrors; Optical control; Optical feedback; Optical polarization; Optical surface waves; Surface emitting lasers; Vertical cavity surface emitting lasers;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Photonics Technology Letters, IEEE

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

1041-1135

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/68.740688

Filename

740688