Delay induced excitability in VCSELs
Tomasz Piwoński, John A. Houlihan, Thomas Busch, G. Huyet · Proceedings of SPIE, the International Society for Optical Engineering/Proceedings of SPIE · 2005
We analyse the stochastic polarization fluctuations in a vertical cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL) under the influence of electro-optical feedback and show that the dynamics can be modeled as a bistable system with time-delayed memory. Assuming an asymmetric potential, we show the existence of a regime in which the systems dynamic displays excitability. We calculate the relevant residence time distributions and correlation times and compare our system to a well known discrete model for excitability. Finally, we present experimental data that demonstrates excitable behaviour in the polarization dynamics of a VCSEL and, in particular, show the appearance of coherence resonance.