Controllable Asymmetric Phase-Locked States of the Fundamental Active Photonic Dimer

TL;DR

This paper explores the existence and stability of controllable asymmetric phase-locked states in coupled semiconductor lasers, demonstrating how their amplitude ratio and phase difference can be dynamically manipulated through current injection.

Contribution

It introduces a model including carrier density dynamics showing how asymmetric phase-locked states can be stable and controlled in coupled laser systems.

Findings

Stable asymmetric phase-locked states exist over extended parameter regions.

Field amplitude ratio and phase difference are controllable via current injection.

Asymmetry relates to gain and loss conditions in the lasers.

Abstract

Coupled semiconductor lasers are systems possessing complex dynamics that are interesting for numerous applications in photonics. In this work, we investigate the existence and the stability of asymmetric phase-locked states of the fundamental active photonic dimer consisting of two coupled lasers. We show that stable phase-locked states of arbitrary asymmetry exist for extended regions of the parameter space of the system and that their field amplitude ratio and phase difference can be dynamically controlled by appropriate current injection. The model includes the important role of carrier density dynamics and shows that the phase-locked state asymmetry is related to operation conditions providing, respectively, gain and loss in the two lasers.