Modeling semiconductor ring lasers

Abstract

This thesis deals with the modeling of semiconductor ring lasers focused on their non-linear dynamics, the modal properties and dynamical stability shown by these devices. Ring lasers are devices that show a rich variety of dynamical behaviors. This richness is due to the presence of two electric fields propagating in opposite directions within the optical cavity, and the interaction between them through the active medium, which is responsible for providing gain to the fields. Among the variety of dynamic behaviors, the unidirectional bistable emission regime has attracted the interest of the scientific community in the last decade for its use in optical memories and logic gates. These new applications have motivated the creation of more complex models that then ones existing that have developed in this thesis, to guide the design of devices optimized for specific situations.