Saturable absorption effects in the self-pulsing (AlGa)As junction laser

Abstract

The steady‐state rate equations for a junction laser containing a saturable optical loss are analyzed in terms of parameters typical of contemporaory stripe‐geometry (AlGa)As lasers. The analysis reveals that under conditions which produce self‐induced intensity pulsations the steady‐state power output may also exhibit a bistability or hysteresis over a small range of current in the vicinity of threshold. Experimental observations made with (AlGa)As double‐heterostructure lasers reveal that a nearly discontinuous behavior in the laser’s output characteristic is, in fact, sometimes associated with the self‐induced pulsations.