Abstract:
We theoretically and experimentally study the noise correlations in an array of lasers
based on a VECSEL (Vertical External Cavity Surface Emitting Laser) architecture. The array
of two or three lasers is created inside a planar degenerate cavity with a mask placed in a
self-imaging position. Injection from each laser to its neighbors is created by diffraction, which
creates a controllable complex coupling coefficient. The noise correlations between the different
modes are observed to be dramatically different when the lasers are phase-locked or unlocked.
These results are well explained by a rate equation model that takes into account the class-A
dynamics of the lasers. This model permits the isolatation of the influence of the complex
coupling coefficients and of the Henry α-factor on the noise behavior of the laser array.
