Mode-partition noise in vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers

Abstract

We present a numerical study of the effects of carrier diffusion and spatial hole-burning on the noise characteristics of vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSEL's) under both single-mode and multimode operations. In the case of single-mode operation, VCSEL noise characteristics are similar to those of edge-emitting lasers except for a diffusion-induced damping of relaxation oscillations. Under multimode operation, VCSEL's exhibit low-frequency noise enhancement due to mode partition. However, depending on the spatial distributions of the transverse modes excited, the mode-partition noise characteristics can be quite different.