Amplification of optical signals in a bistable vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser by vibrational resonance.

Abstract

The paper presents the results of the experimental study of an application of the phenomenon of vibrational resonance (VR) for enhancement of the response of a bistable vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) to the effect of optical modulating signals. Specifically, two different cases were investigated: (a) the control of all-optical switching caused by a modulated orthogonal optical injection from another VCSEL and (b) the amplification of autodyne signals from a vibrating diffusely reflecting surface in the self-mixing optical interferometry. It is experimentally demonstrated that an application of the phenomenon of VR in both cases studied leads to a strong amplification of the input optical signals by a factor from 10 to 200 depending on the experimental conditions with respect to the initial values. The effect of the asymmetry of a bistable potential on the amplification factor was also studied. The results obtained can be used to improve all-optical switchings for application in communication systems and enhancement of autodyne signals in self-mixing optical interferometry. This article is part of the theme issue 'Vibrational and stochastic resonance in driven nonlinear systems (part 1)'.