Polarization correlations in pulsed,
vertical-cavity, surface-emitting lasers
D.R. Shelly, T.W.S. Garrison, M. Beck and D.H. Christensen,
Optics
Express, 7, 249-259 (2000).
Abstract
We have examined the noise behavior and polarization correlations in the output
of a pulsed, multitransverse-mode, vertical-cavity, surface-emitting laser
(VCSEL). We have measured the output of
the laser simultaneously in two orthogonal, linear polarizations as a function
of drive current for pulse widths of 3 ns, 10 ns, and 30 ns. We present joint probability distributions
for the number of detected photoelectrons in each of the two
polarization-resolved outputs. The
joint distributions indicate that the correlations can be quite complicated,
and are not completely described by a single number (i.e., the correlation
coefficient). Furthermore, we find that
the number of lasing modes appears to be the most important parameter in
determining the degree of polarization correlation.