Thermal Effects of Polarization Switching in Vertical-CavitySurface-Emitting Lasers

• Main Authors: Yu-Heng Wu, 吳雨衡
• Other Authors: Tsu-Chiang Yen
• Format: Others
• Language: en_US
• Published: 2011
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/97097344729537983807

碩士 === 國立中山大學 === 物理學系研究所 === 99 === This research investigated the thermal properties of the polarization switching (PS) in vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs). The investigations were performed by experiments and numerical simulations. In the experiments, the current modulation frequency and ambient temperature of VCSELs were varied to study their thermal effects on PS, resulting in rich dynamics. The current-heating effect on PS was also investigated by a step function current experiment. Based on an assumption that PS is activated as the temperature in the active region reaches a certain temperature, we model a simplified temperature rate equation to simulate the experiment of the step function. The consistency of the experiments and simulations concludes that the thermal effect plays a major role in PS and PS’s hysteresis. These results contribute to the understanding of the mechanism of VCSEL’s polarization switching.