Abstract

Different classes of behavior appear in semiconductor laser dynamics depending on the feedback ratio for fixed geometry of the feedback generating system. Feedback is usually reported to give rise to a decrease of the threshold current I_th and an increase of the differential quantum efficiency n_D; sometimes it is reported that n_D remains constant. In some experiments it is possible to see that n_D decreases. The response of the system to optical feedback is investigated by means of a microscopic model introduced to describe laser diode dynamics, and their changes, for example, in the presence of a small current modulating signal. As a first approximation the role of the phase of the electromagnetic field is neglected.

© 1989 Optical Society of America