Phys. Rev. A 81, 023819 (2010) - Polarization properties in the transition from below to above lasing threshold in broad-area vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers

Polarization properties in the transition from below to above lasing threshold in broad-area vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers

M. Schulz-Ruhtenberg, I. V. Babushkin, N. A. Loiko, K. F. Huang, and T. Ackemann

Phys. Rev. A 81, 023819 – Published 19 February 2010

Abstract

For highly divergent emission of broad-area vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers, a rotation of the polarization direction by up to $90^{°}$ occurs when the pump rate approaches the lasing threshold. Well below threshold the polarization is parallel to the direction of the transverse wave vector and is determined by the transmissive properties of the Bragg reflectors that form the cavity mirrors. In contrast, near-threshold and above-threshold emission is more affected by the reflective properties of the reflectors and is predominantly perpendicular to the direction of transverse wave vectors. Two qualitatively different types of polarization transition are demonstrated: an abrupt transition, where the light polarization vanishes at the point of the transition, and a smooth transition, where it is significantly nonzero during the transition.

Received 24 September 2009

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.81.023819

©2010 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

M. Schulz-Ruhtenberg^*

Institute for Applied Physics, University of Münster, Corrensstrasse 2-4, D-48149 Münster, Germany

I. V. Babushkin^†

Weierstrass Institute for Applied Analysis and Stochastics, Mohrenstrasse 39, D-10117, Berlin, Germany

Institute of Physics, NASB, 68 Nezalezhnasti Avenue, 220072 Minsk, Belarus

Department of Electrophysics, National Chiao Tung University, Hsinchu, Taiwan

SUPA and Department of Physics, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow G4 0NG, Scotland, United Kingdom

^*Now at Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology, Steinbachstrasse 15, D-52074 Aachen, Germany.
^†babushkin@wias-berlin.de

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Vol. 81, Iss. 2 — February 2010

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