A comprehensive model for semiconductor lasers actively modelocked with frequency limiting elements and picosecond pulse compression

Short pulses with a nearly transform limited time-bandwidth product play important roles in communications and photonics. Actively modelocking a semiconductor laser in an external cavity with frequency limiting mechanisms combined with pulse compression provides a convenient way to generate such pulses at high repetition rates. To understand the physics of this process and therefore provide guidance to future experiments and better laser design, we have developed a theoretical model to simulate the traveling wave electric fields in these lasers. Our work differs from previous results in that it includes all of the important physical effects: frequency chirp, pulse compression, strong active current modulation, frequency filtering, spontaneous emission noise, gain compression, and dynamic cavity detuning