Abstract

The application of semiconductor lasers in optical communication requires high dynamic performance. The K factor, defined as the ratio of damping rate to the square of relaxation resonance frequency, $\text{K}=4{\pi }^2\left({\tau }_p+\frac{\text{E}}{{\text{v}}_{\text{g}}{\text{g}}_0}\right)$ is a measure of the laser maximum achievable modulation bandwidth, ${\text{f}}_{\max }=2\pi \sqrt{2}/\text{K}$, where τ_p is the photon lifetime, ε is the nonlinear coefficient, v_g is the group index, and g₀ is the differential gain.¹ There are, therefore, three ways to reduce K, hence improving f_max—increasing g₀, decreasing τ_p, or decreasing ε.

© 1993 Optical Society of America