Self-mixing interferometer technique based on VCSEL under the Effect of Polarization Mode switching

This paper investigates the performance of the Self-Mixing Interferometer (SMI) based on Vertical-Cavity Surface-Emitting Laser (VCSEL) under the influence of polarization mode switching due to optical feedback. The SMI signals are acquired using the variation in junction-voltage of the single mode VCSEL while the optical power in two orthogonal polarizations of the VCSEL fundamental mode are monitored in parallel. Results show that polarization mode switching occurs only at certain laser bias currents and corrupts the SMI signal.