Active optomechanics through relaxation oscillations

TL;DR

This paper introduces an active optomechanical laser utilizing dissipative coupling to induce self-pulsation, linking mechanical oscillations with laser relaxation oscillations in III-V compound lasers.

Contribution

It presents a novel laser design that leverages dissipative optomechanical coupling to achieve self-pulsation driven by mechanical and optical interactions.

Findings

Self-pulsation occurs at mechanical frequencies below relaxation oscillation frequency.

Dissipative coupling links mechanical oscillations with laser relaxation oscillations.

Numerical analysis confirms the feasibility of mechanically driven laser self-pulsation.

Abstract

We propose an optomechanical laser based on III-V compounds which exhibits self-pulsation in the presence of a dissipative optomechanical coupling. In such a laser cavity, radiation pressure drives the mechanical degree of freedom and its back-action is caused by the mechanical modulation of the cavity loss rate. Our numerical analysis shows that even in a wideband gain material, such dissipative coupling couples the mechanical oscillation with the laser relaxation oscillations process. Laser self-pulsation is observed for mechanical frequencies below the laser relaxation oscillation frequency under sufficiently high optomechanical coupling factor.