Dynamics of a filtered-feedback laser: influence of the filter width

The behavior of a semiconductor laser subject to filtered optical feedback is studied in dependence on the width of the filter. Of special interest are pure frequency oscillations where the laser intensity is practically constant. We show that frequency oscillations are stable in a large region of intermediate values of the filter width, where the dispersion of the filter is able to compensate for the well-known phase-amplitude coupling of the semiconductor laser. Our stability diagram covers the entire range from a very narrow filter, when the system behaves like a laser with monochromatic optical injection, to a very broad filter, when the laser effectively receives conventional (i.e., unfiltered) optical feedback. ©2007 Optical Society of America.