Modeling and Direct Electric-Field Measurements of Passively Mode-Locked Quantum-Dot Lasers

Abstract

A delay differential equation model of a passively mode-locked two-section quantum-dot laser reveals pulse asymmetry that is experimentally confirmed through direct electric-field measurements using frequency-resolved optical gating. This finding indicates that conventional autocorrelators, which obscure the underlying pulse structure due to the symmetry inherent in autocorrelation, are of limited utility in the characterization of these lasers.