Temporal and Spectral Properties of Semiconductor Lasers.

The spectral and dynamical properties of semiconductor lasers with quite general structures are investigated, and a general analysis is carried out directly from the Maxwell-Bloch equations. Techniques to properly include the frequency dependent material and structural properties are developed. The study begins with the development of a generalized Langevin rate equation. It is shown that this equation can be obtained from a steady-state analysis using the correspondence iomega rightarrow d/dt. The equation is, in general, infinite order in d/dt, constituting an infinite-order correction to the low-frequency analysis. Combining the generalized rate equation with perturbation theory, analytical expressions for both the low- and high-frequency field and fluctuation spectra are derived. The theory is applied to a novel all-optical frequency stabilization system and the external cavity operated semiconductor laser. For the external cavity operated laser, the known weak feedback, low-frequency results are extended to the strong feedback, high-frequency regime. The frequency stabilization system is based on resonant optical feedback from a high-Q cavity and is shown to have superior noise and stability properties when compared to the external cavity laser. Finally, in a study of turn-on jitter in both distributed feedback and Fabry-Perot cavity semiconductor lasers, it is shown that the improved spectral characteristics of the distributed feedback laser are closely related to the increased turn-on jitter sometimes observed in this laser with respect to its Fabry-Perot cavity counterpart. The analysis developed in this thesis is applicable to a wide variety of laser structures that rely on strong frequency dependent effects for their operation.