Spectral properties of a semiconductor laser coupled to a single mode fiber resonator

Abstract

The effect of optical feedback from a single mode fiber resonator on the instantaneous frequency fluctuation spectrum and on the field fluctuation spectrum of an AlGaAs semiconductor laser is studied theoretically and experimentally. Single mode fiber resonators of different lengths and finesses are used for the experiments. The minimum linewidth conditions are given and it is shown that the linewidth reduction ratio increases with the fiber resonator selectivity. The limit for multistability operation depends on the resonator finesse. Theory and experiments are found to be in good agreement. Finally, the effect of resonator loaded semiconductor laser phase noise on BER performance in optical DPSK heterodyne systems is theoretically analyzed.