Harmonic Analysis of Limit-Cycle Oscillations of an Optically Injected Semiconductor Laser

We analyze the limit cycle, also known as period-one (P1), dynamics induced by strong optical injection to a semiconductor laser. Based on the well-established laser rate equations, an approximate solution of the P1 dynamics can be obtained by starting with a general limit-cycle solution and taking into account high-order harmonics of the P1 frequency. The results from this analysis are in a good agreement with numerical and experimental results. Our analysis shows that the strong coupling between the oscillating carrier density and the oscillating optical field is responsible for the high nonlinearity of these P1 dynamics.