Two-dimensional Model of Self-Pulsation in AlGaAs Laser Diodes

Abstract

The use of a fully two-dimensional waveguide analysis of the optical modes in a self-pulsating laser is described. We show that there is a need for such an analysis as the effective index model often used for modeling semiconductor lasers is shown not to provide a correct optical mode when the lateral waveguide is only weakly guiding. An efficient technique for solving the large and sparse matrix calculation in the two-dimensional model, the implicitly restarted Arnoldi method, is used and shown to be useful for the repetitive calculation necessary to describe the laser dynamics. We find that the optical field and optical gain show a variation in the pulse cycle and that this variation that occurs due to the change in carrier density, is responsible for the development of self-pulsation in the diode device.