Injection-locked spin-VCSELs for coherent optical communications

Abstract

We numerically investigate characteristics of spin-controlled vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (spin-VCSELs) under injection locking by using spin-flip rate equations. Generation of a modulation sideband whose phase is correlated with an injected light into a spin-VCSEL, is an attractive application of spin-VCSELs to frequency-shifted local oscillators in coherent optical communication systems. Our results indicate that the spin polarization modulation with a high degree of spin polarization is important for efficient generation of strong modulation sideband. Additionally, matching the modulation frequency and polarization mode splitting in the spin-VCSEL contribute to achieve efficient and ideal single sideband generation.