Refractory period of an excitable semiconductor laser with optical injection

TL;DR

This paper investigates the refractory period in an injection-locked semiconductor laser operating in an excitable regime, combining experimental observations with dynamical simulations to understand its response to repeated optical stimuli.

Contribution

It provides the first experimental demonstration of a refractory period in an excitable semiconductor laser with optical injection, supported by theoretical modeling.

Findings

Refractory period prevents response to subsequent stimuli during a specific time window.

Experimental results align well with dynamical system simulations.

Reveals neuron-like excitable behavior in semiconductor lasers.

Abstract

Injection-locked semiconductor lasers can be brought to a neuron-like excitable regime when parameters are set close to the unlocking transition. Here we study experimentally the response of this system to repeated optical perturbations and observe the existence of a refractory period during which perturbations are not able to elicit an excitable response. The results are analyzed via simulations of a set of dynamical equations which reproduced adequately the experimental results.