Optical polarization bistability with high switching speed in a TM wave injected buried heterostructure laser

Abstract

We demonstrate optical polarization bistability in a semiconductor laser for the first time. Only the optical signal pulses are used as triggers for switching the transverse mode of the laser. The two stable states are identified as the transverse electric mode and the transverse magnetic mode, respectively, while the optical input consists of the transverse magnetic wave. Switching speeds up to a few hundred picoseconds have been achieved for both switch-up and switch-down.