# Resonant activation in bistable semiconductor lasers

## TL;DR

This paper explores how resonant activation influences mode hopping in bistable semiconductor lasers, demonstrating that specific modulation timings minimize transition times, with implications for experimental optical systems.

## Contribution

It introduces a theoretical and simulation-based analysis of resonant activation effects in two-mode semiconductor lasers, linking rate-equation models to Langevin equations.

## Key findings

- Optimal modulation timing reduces mode hopping times
- Resonant activation observed in simulations
- Applicable to various laser types

## Abstract

We theoretically investigate the possibility of observing resonant activation in the hopping dynamics of two-mode semiconductor lasers. We present a series of simulations of a rate-equations model under random and periodic modulation of the bias current. In both cases, for an optimal choice of the modulation time-scale, the hopping times between the stable lasing modes attain a minimum. The simulation data are understood by means of an effective one-dimensional Langevin equation with multiplicative fluctuations. Our conclusions apply to both Edge Emitting and Vertical Cavity Lasers, thus opening the way to several experimental tests in such optical systems.