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I. INTRODUCTION EMICONDUCTOR lasers play an important role in optical communication systems because of their small size, high efficiency, and ability to be modulated directly at gigabit per second rates. For example, high-speed 1.55 pm InGaAsP distributed-feedback (DFB) lasers, operating in a single longitudinal mode at a modulation frequency of 16-17 GHz have recently been reported [l]. For such high-frequency modulation, the dynamic characteristics of lasers are important and methods of design that can help to predict the chirp and modulation efficiency are needed. The dynamic response of lasers is generally studied by solving a set of rate equations that govern the interaction between the carriers and photons inside the active region of the laser cavity [2]-[4]. In the earliest work, the equations are usually linearized to allow solutions to be found for small-signal oscillations. Although this gives insight to the important physical parameters, it has a limited applicability. Large-signal dynamics with nonlinear effects such as gain saturation, spatial hole burning, and changes of electron and photon densities along the length of lasers are now essential in the study of DFB lasers where these effects are more significant than in Fabry-Perot lasers [5], [6]. A good example of a sophisticated computer program that considered many of these effects is given by CLADISS [7]. This can analyze dc, small-signal AM, and FM responses of DFB lasers with the nonuniform distributions of photon and carrier densities taken into account. Other work [SI is also able to study large-signal dynamics but relies on knowledge of the photon lifetime that is not necessarily known for a DFB. Newer models, such as those based on the transmission line laser model (TLLM)
method [9], [lo], are being developed to study many of the dynamic effects in lasers, but the coupled rate equation approach still offers some advantages in its relative straightforward physics and computation. In this paper, we propose a large-signal dynamic model for DFBs in which the longitudinal variations of carrier density, photon density, and refractive index, along with the effects of spatial hole burning and gain saturation, are considered. The model is time dependent, although one dimensional in space. Although the model can be used to study general structures, the work here concentrates on X/4 phase-shifted single-mode first-order DFB lasers. We start from the time-dependent coupled wave equations with the spontaneous emission taken into account from the beginning. Using a matrix formulation, the field equations are converted to power equations so that only the power distribution of the spontaneous emission is required, thereby eliminating problems of the random phase of this emission. The longitudinal variations of photon and carrier densities inside lasers are dealt with by splitting the laser into a number of uniform sections. Checks show that about eight sections can give a useful compromise between excessive computing time and limited accuracy. The linewidth is estimated from the power output at a few wavelengths. Making the assumption of a Lorentzian line shape allows the total power output to be determined. Our simulation examines the frequency chirp when the laser is switched from a low level around the transparency carrier density to a level well above the threshold. The paper is organized as follows. A mathematical description of the power matrix method used to calculate photon densities in the multisection laser is presented in Section 11; the carrier rate equation and other parameters necessary for the modeling are given in Section 111. The dynamical algorithm and the operation of the model is outlined. The application of this model to X/4 phaseshifted DFB lasers are demonstrated in Section IV. Finally, in Section V, a discussion and brief conclusion are given. 11. THE POWER MATRIX METHOD A general method to tackle nonuniform distributions of carrier and photon densities is to split the laser into a cascaded sections [11]-[13]. In each section it is assumed that the carrier density, photon density, refractive index, injected current, and material parameters are constant. However, all these parameters can vary in different sections. A laser with multisections is shown in Fig. 1.
Manuscript received July 30, 1991; revised October 22, 1991. The authors are with the Engineering Department, Cambridge University, Cambridge, CB2 lPZ, England. IEEE Log Number 9 10582 1.
605
T
Pl
t
p2
t
p3
t
N-3
t
N2
t
N1
of the spontaneous fields. Although Langevin forces or other stochastic processes are introduced by others to proceed numerically, the method here is to use the lack of spatial correlation of these spontaneous driving currents along with their power distribution, given by
i*iF F
+ igiR = p 2 = e,f B N 2 .
Fig. I . The multisection DFB laser: V , is the forward and reverse field vector and pm is the spontaneous emission field vector. T,, is the transform matrix. Subscript m denotes section m.
(5)
For a single-mode DFB laser, the transverse electric field at frequency w = wo + Aw is given as [7]
E(z, t )
Here, B is the bimolecular recombination coefficient, e, is a constant given by 2 A w Z / ~ ~ n i C ,A is Plancks con, stant divided by 2 n , 1 is the section length, eo is the vacuum dielectric constant, ng is the group refractive index, and f is the spontaneous coupling factor that will be discussed later. In the model, the average spontaneous powers coupled to the forward and reverse waves are assumed to be equal, e.g.,
(1)
where F and R are the field amplitudes of the forward and reverse wave, respectively, and wo is the reference frequency. Po = 27r/A0, where A, is the Bragg wavelength. /3 = 2nneE/A, (A, is the free space wavelength at U is ) , the propagation constant at the actual operating carrier density N where the effective refractive index neff is a function of N . The amplitudes F and R can be derived from Maxwells equations using the slowly varying amplitude approximation [ 141. Using this approximation, time-dependent coupling equations can be written as [ 7 ] , 1151:
iciF = igiR = p 2
:elf B N 2 .
(6)
- - + - = iKR c, at az
1 aF
aF
(i6
+ iAw/Cg - g + a J F + iF
It is important to realize that these equations are driven by the spontaneous fields iF and iR at frequency W . There is a whole spectrum of frequencies w for these spontaneous fields and, in principle, they all have to be calculated. Fortunately, it turns out that this is not necessary, provided that the Lorentzian line shape is assumed. However, the principle remains: if the rate of phase change is w , the driving frequency is w . The variation in amplitudes is accounted for here by assuming that in any local sections the forward and reverse fields grow or decay in time at the same rates. Hence, in each section of the laser,
p(t) =
laR laF -= -
c,Fat c,Rat
(7)
where p is real and assumed to be uniform over any one section but varies from section to section. This variation has some similarities to that used by Henry [17]. Substitutions into ( 2 ) and (3) give two new equations for each value of w:
-- - iKF aF -
az
(i6
+ iAw/C,
-
+ a ) R + iR
(9)
with
G=g
p(t).
(10)
ra(N = 2(1
No) EP)
(4)
+ R*R so that
where a is the differential gain, No is the carrier density at transparency, N is the carrier density, P is the photon density and I is the confinement factor. The nonlinear gain suppression factor is given by E , which reduces the gain at large photon densities. The spontaneous driving currents for the forward and reverse waves are represented by parameters iF and iR, respectively. These equations are difficult to solve because of the random phases
Given that p is known then (8) and (9) can be solved over each uniform section using a transfer matrix method [121, [13]. Consider a small section of the DFB laser, which has length 1 = L / M where L is the total length of the laser and M is the number of sections, and express the traveling waves in that section along with the spontaneous currents
606
Here n stands for the right-hand side of the nth section as shown in Fig. 1. The spontaneous emission is introduced between the sections so that the coupled wave equations can be solved in a matrix format as follows:
M-1
[d][K]-'
m=l
P+I)P,.
(19)
Vi = Ti Vo
Finally, the average power output from the left facet can be determined by
Po =
e2(1- rfrl)R:Ro
V = TMVM-1 M
+ PM
M- 1
m=l
S(m+l'Pm S'"V0
(13)
M-l
M-1
with y2 = [i(6 Aw/Cg) - ( G - a)I2 + K ~ . If the reflectivities at the left and right facets of the laser are assumed to be rl and r2, respectively, the boundary conditions can be written as
The plus superscripts represent the conjugate and transpose. e2 = i A e o n i C g is another constant, whereas A is the cross-sectional area. Because the spontaneous field is incoherent, the following relationships remain valid:
i,iFn
=
v, = p o R 0 ]
(15)
i$
ajn;
where Ro and FM are the electric fields emerging as a reverse wave R, at the left-hand facet and as a forward wave FM at the right-hand facet. From (12) and (13):
p0 =
e2(1- r f r l ) / ( l + r f r l ) mCI =
trace (x:xk)p2
sij = (S(l))i, the element of matrix S"). For future shortis hand, write
.* . in which x = [ d ][ K ] - l S ( k +, p 2 = igmiFm= ZRmlRm. k I) The field inside the laser cavity Vm can be calculated
with
m < k.
Multiply both sides by a singular matrix
W(m) given by is
Tk = Tm *
TI.
where S(m)= : Tm = T M T M I- T M P 2 * Tm Tm (note I * + that the order of matrix multiplication is important). The transform matrix T is given, according to [ 171, by
l)Pm. (20)
iRjiFn =
(21)
(25)
607
Powers of the forward and reverse waves in each section can be calculated in a similar way as Po, e.g.,
P ,
e v' v,. 2,
(26)
The results depend solely on the spontaneous power injected into each section but not on the phases of the spontaneous emission.
OF 111. OPERATION THE MODEL The operation of the dynamic model requires the carrier rate equation and other important parameters to be quantified.
C. Spontaneous Coupling Factor The spontaneous coupling factor can be determined approximately from the bandwidth of the spontaneous emission spectrum and the far-field pattern width of the mode internal to the lasing cavity in the planes perpendicular and parallel to the junction. A simple model suggested by Whiteaway et al. [23] takes the far-field full width at half maximum (FWHM) angles perpendicular and parallel to the junction as OL and ell, respectively, and assumes that the spontaneous emission covers the whole 47r solid angle. The coupling factor can then be written as
Here ALP is the bandwidth of the spontaneous emission spectrum. In this equation, a factor of 2 is accounted for emission to the forward and reverse waves and of for the independent polarizations. All the equations required for the numerical analysis of the dynamic model have now been derived. The computer model relies on solving the carrier rate equation and the time-dependent coupling equations by introducing a variable p in (7). The sequence of computing follows that of the physical time process. The flowchart for calculating the dynamic response of the DFB is given in Fig. 2. The operations in this model are outlined as follows. 1) Switching on at a given injection current, we start initially from the rate equation with uniform distributions of carrier and photon densities with N = No, P = Po, and p = 0 at t = 0; Po can be obtained from the dc curve. 2) Calculating the parameters: G from ( 4 ) and (10) ( p = 0 at the beginning), refractive index nefffrom (26). Both neffand G in general vary with section number. 3) Finding the central frequency fo of the mode. This can be done by finding the frequency that the determinant of the matrix [ K ] in (17) 4 ) Determining photon densities in each using the power matrix method proposed in Section 11. In order to obtain the total photon density of the mode, we assume that the linewidth of the mode is given by Lorentzian line shape
This change causes variation in the effective refractive index neff= neffO An (where neffo the refractive index is when the carrier density is No, and aH is the linewidth enhancement factor). Factor aH is found experimentally to be a function of the guiding structure as well as carrier density and wavelength. For simplicity, aHis assumed to be constant in the model.
(28) 1 + [2(f - fo)/BI2 where A. is the amplitude at the central frequency fo and B is the FWHM linewidth. If we choose a few points around the central frequency and fit the photon density with Lorentzian function, the linewidth B can be calculated. 5 ) Estimating a new value of p defined by (10). This is the key part in our modeling. It can be done by using a predictor-corrector method. First predict the value of p by
=
A0
608
TABLE I
PARAMETERS U S E D IN THE
MODEL
01
(4
Auger camer recombination coefficient ( C ) Differential gain ( a ) Transparency carrier density (N,,) Linewidth enhancement factor (aH) Absorption and scattering loss (a) Grating coupling coefficient ( K ) Effective phase refractive index (ne*,,) Effective group refractive index (n,) Length of the laser cavity ( L ) Active layer thickness ( d ) Effective width parallel to junction (wll) Effective width perpendicular to junction ( w I ) Far-field pattem parallel to junction (el,) Far-field pattem perpendicular to junction Waveguide confinement factor (r) Width of spontaneous emission spectrum (ALP) Approximate emission wavelength (A,,)
3 x cm6 s-' 3 x 10'~cm' 1.5 X 10" cm-3 4.86 40 cm-' 50 cm-' 3.28 3.7 . 400 pm 0.18 pm 3.5 pm 0.47 pm 20"
50"
0.35 80 nm 1.55 pm
I
equlred time reache Output the results
Fig. 2 The flowchart for calculating the dynamic response of the DFB laser.
Here P, is the calculated photon density at present and Pl - is the photon density at previous time t A t . We take this predicted value back to step 2) and repeat this process until the errors between the two iterations are less than a preselected limit. 6 ) Calculating d N / d t for the carrier rate equation and updating the next time interval carrier density with N(t
improvement in the accuracy. The parameters used in the modeling are listed in Table I. Fig. 3 shows the result of the light power output from the left-hand facet versus the injection current density. Due to the symmetry of the structure the output power from the right-hand side is the Z same as the one from left hand side. The L characteristics shown in Fig. 3 gives a typical dc response of the laser diode. It can be clearly seen from the LZ curve that the laser threshold is around 2300 A/cm2. The calculated power output agrees well with the results given by Whiteaway et al. [23] (special run using the parameters in Table 1). At conditions of large-signal modulation, lasers are initially biased just below the threshold and modulated with a step function. The modulation of the injected current density is given as J(t) = Jo
+ A t ) = N(t) + -
TI,
+ (J, - Jo)h(t)
(31)
where Jo is the bias current density, J , is the modulation amplitude, and h(t) is the step function given by h(t) =
IV. APPLICATION THE MODEL OF The model here concentrates on analyzing the h/4 phase-shift single-mode lasers with perfect antireflection (AR) coating at both facets, e.g., rl and r2 are set to zero. The position of the h/4 phase shift is placed at the center of the laser. First, the static characteristics (dc) of the laser are studied. This is done by taking the value of p = 0 in the modeling. The choice of the time step depends on the injection current density. When J < 2000 A/cm2, A t = 80 ps is used. At higher injection, smaller time steps have to be used to guarantee that the computing processes converge; A t = 2 ps is used at J = 4500 A/cm2. To balance the computing time and calculation accuracy, 12 subsections along the laser cavity (M = 12) are used as we found that further increases in the section number gives a little
0 t < O
1 t 1 0 .
(32)
The dynamic response of this step function can be obtained from the model. When we bias the laser at Jo = 2200 A/cm2 and switch to a level J , = 3500 A/cm2, the power response is plotted in Fig. 4.A t = 2 ps is used in the calculation. The transient response shows damped oscillations as expected. The oscillation frequency is about 2 GHz and decays in about 3 ns to reach the steady state. Fig. 4 also shows the dynamic response of a laser with a large nonof which the oscillations linear gain coefficient E = are significantly reduced to almost single pulse. The frequency chirp during the laser switch-on is shown and E = lopi6. The frequency in Fig. 5 with E = change is caused by variations of the refractive index that is related to changes of the carrier density as given by
609
2.4
k 5
Y
n 2.35
2.2
2.2:
: 2.1
e
2.15
2.1
2
2
4
2.05
1
6
10
12
l n w n c u m t den*
(A/&)
Distance (saction n u m b m)
Fig. 3. DC characteristics of the DFB laser: optical power output versus injection current. Point A is the initial bias and B is the final steady-state in the dynamic analysis.
Fig. 6. Spatial distribution of the carrier density at steady state (point B in Fig. 2) with E =
*I n '
I
3.5
3-
6 >
Y
2.5
t
B
2-
0 :
' is
1's
i
Tune (nr)
is
3s :
I
M l l t a (nction nvmkr m) ~
Fig. 4. Step function response (switched from A to B shown in Fig. 2) of power output from h/4 phase-shifted DFB laser. The parameters used are listed in Table I. Solid line: E = dashed line: E =
Fig. 7. Refractive index change along the laser cavity at steady state (point B in figure 2) with E =
usually defined as the full width at half maximum (FWHM) of the central peak. We assume that the lasing mode has Lorentzian line shape in the model, the linewidth of the mode can thus be obtained by fitting the power output at several different frequency points and cal-
I\ ,. . _
610
need further discussion. Time-dependent linewidth and frequency chirp, caused by spatial hole burning and changes of carrier induced refractive index, can be obtained as well. Finally, the variations of the carrier density, photon density, and refractive index are obtained under steady-state conditions. Strong spatial hole burning is found around the region near the X/4 phase shift. The model has been developed for general purposes. It is currently being used to analyze other dynamic characteristics of the DFB lasers. For example, the dynamic response of nonuniform current injection (split electrode contact laser) and side-mode suppression are beginning to show useful results.
0
10
12
Didtones ( d o n n u m k m)
Fig. 8. Photon density distribution at steady state (point E in Fig. 2) with e = 10-17.
The computer program is written in an interpreted language called MATLAB. It takes approximately 5 h on an IBM-PC1486 to complete the calculation of the dynamic response. When high current is injected into lasers with large K Lvalues, very strong hole burning can happen, causing the side modes to lase and leading to errors when a single-mode operation is assumed. However, the side mode is weak compared to the main mode lasing at the center of the stop band in the X/4 phase-shifted laser. Multimode modeling is a subject of a future paper.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT The authors thank Dr. J. Whiteaway for useful discussions and for the supply of laser parameters used in the modeling.
REFERENCES
K. Uomi, S . Sasaki, T. Tsuchiya, H.Nakano, and N. Chinone, U1tra low chirp and high-speed 1.55 pm multiquantum well X/4-shifted DFB laser, IEEEPhoton. Technol. Lett., vol. 2, pp. 229-230, 1990. L. A. Coldren and T. L. Koch, Analysis and design of coupledcavity lasers-Part I, IEEE J . Quantum Electron., vol. QE-20, pp. 659-670, 1984. -, Analysis and design of coupled-cavity lasers-Part 11, IEEE J . Quantum Electron,, vol. QE-20, pp. 671-682, 1984. J. 1. Kinoshita and K. Matsumoto, Transient chirping in distributed feed back lasers: Effect of hole-burning along the laser axis, IEEE J . Quantum Electron., vol. 24, pp. 2160-2169, 1988. D. Marcuse and T . P. Lee, On approximate analytical solution of rate equations for studying transient spectra of injection lasers, IEEE J . Quantum Electron., vol. QE-19, pp. 1397-1406, 1983. W. Rabinovich and B. Feldman, Spatial hole burning effect in distributed feedback lasers, IEEE J . Quantum Electron., vol. 25, pp. 20-30, 1989. P. Vankwilelberge, G. Morthier, and R. Baets, CLADISS-A longitudinal multimode model fro the analysis of the static dynamic and stochastic behavior of diode laser with distributed feedback, IEEE J . Quantum Electron., vol. 26, pp. 1728-1741, 1990. G. P. Agrawal, Effect of gain and index nonlinearities on singlemode dynamics in semiconductor lasers, IEEE J . Quantum Electron., vol. 26, pp. 1901-1909, 1990. A. J. Lowery, Model for multimode picosecond dynamic laser chirp based on transmission line laser model, Inst. Elec. Eng., Proc., pt. J , vol. 135, pp. 126-132, 1988. -, New dynamics model for multimode chirp DFB semiconductor lasers, Inst. Elec. Eng., Proc., pt. J, vol. 137, pp. 293-300, 1990. K. Kikuchi and H. Tomofuji, Analysis of oscillation characteristics of seperated-electrode DFB laser diode, IEEE J . Quantum Electron., vol. 26, pp. 1717-1727, 1990. G. Bjork and 0. Nilsson, A new exact and efficient numerical matrix theory of complicated laser structure: Properties of asymmetric phase-shifted DFB lasers, J . Lightwave Technol., vol. LT-5, pp. 140-146, 1987. T. Makino and J . Glinski, Transfer matrix analysis of the amplified spontaneous emission of DFB semiconductor laser amplifier, IEEE J . Quantum Electron., vol. 24, pp. 1507-1518, 1988. M. Schubert and B. Wilhelmi, Nonlinear Optics and Quantum Electronics. New York: Wiley, 1986, ch. 1. D. Marcuse, Theory of Dielectric Optical Waveguide. New York: Academic, 1974, ch. 3. W. Streifer, D. R. Scifres, and R. D. Bumham, Coupled wave anal-
V . CONCLUSION A computer model is developed to calculate the dc and dynamic response of DFB lasers based on time-dependent coupled-wave equations. The spontaneous emission is considered to be the driving source of the lasers. The timedependent coupled equations can be converted to timeindependent equations by introducing a field growth, or decay rate p . Because of the uncertain phase factors in the spontaneous emission, the coupled equations are difficult to solve by numerical methods, therefore, a new method has been developed to convert the field equations to power equations in matrix format by using the spatial incoherency of the spontaneous emission. The nonuniform distributions of carrier and photon densities as well as that of the refractive index are taken into account by dividing the laser into several subsections and by assuming that all the parameters in each section are uniform. This model has been applied to X/4 phase-shifted DFB lasers. First, the dc characteristics, e.g., light output versus injection current, has been calculated. There is a smooth change of the optical power around the threshold, which is very similar to typical characteristics of practical laser diodes. The transient response of the laser when switched on from the level below the threshold to the above is calculated. The transients are sensitive to the precise value of the nonlinear gain coefficient used. This
61 1
ysis of DFB and DBR lasers, ZEEE J. Quantum Electron., vol. QE-13, pp. 134-141, 1977. [I71 C. Henry, Theory of spontaneousemission noise in open resonators and its application to lasers and optical amplifiers, J. Lightwave Technol., vol. LT-4, pp. 288-297, 1986. [I 81 M. Yamada and K. Sakuda, Analysis almost-periodic distributed feedback slab waveguides via a fundamental matrix approach, Appl. Opt., vol. 26, pp. 3473-3478, 1987. (191 B. N. Gomatam and A. P. DeFonzo, Theory of hot carrier effects on nonlinear gain in GaAs-GaAIAs lasers and amplifiers, ZEEE J. Quantum Electron., vol. 26, pp. 1689-1704, 1990. I201 J . Eom and C. B. Su, Observation of positive and negative nonlinear gain in an optical injection experiment: Proof of the cavity standing wave-induced nonlinear gain theory in 1.3 pm wavelength semiconductor diode laser, Appl. Phys. Lett., vol. 54, pp. 1734-1736, 1989. [21] G. P. Agrawal, Gain nonlinearities in semiconductor lasers: Theory and application to distributed feedback lasers, ZEEE J. Quantum Electron., vol. QE-23, pp. 860-868, 1987. [22] M. Osinski and J. Buus, Linewidth broadening factor in semiconductor lasers-An overview, ZEEE J. Quantum Electron., vol. QE-23, pp. 9-27, 1987. 1231 J. E, A. Whiteaway, G. H. B. Thompson, A. J. Collar, and C. J. Armistead, The design and assessment of X/4 phase-shifted DFB laser structure, ZEEE J. Quantum Electron., vol. 25, pp. 1261-1279, 1989, and private communication.
John E. Carroll studied mathematics at Queens College, Cambridge University, Cambridge, England, and then undertook research in electrical engineering. He received the Ph.D. degree for work on cyclotron low noise microwave amplifiers. He also obtained the Sc.D. He joined Services Electronic Research Laboratory, Harlow, England, working on traveling wave tubes, Gunn effect, and Impatt diodes. In 1967 he joined Cambridge University where he currently holds a Chair in Engineering. He specializes in optoelectronics with interests in laser devices, bistability , and optical signal processing. For the last four years he has been Deputy Head of the Engineering Department, Cambridge University. He is the author of three books Hot Electron Microwave Generators (Amold, 1970), Physical f Models o Semiconductor Devices (Amold, 1974), and Rate Equations in Semiconductor Electronics (CUP, 1985). Dr. Carroll is a Fellow of the Institution of Electrical Engineers and has been elected to the Fellowship of Engineering.