Low-frequency fluctuation in multimode semiconductor laser subject to optical feedback

Dynamics of a semiconductor laser subject to moderate optical feedback operating in the low-frequency fluctuation regime is numerically investigated. Multimode Lang-Kobayashi (LK) equations show that the low-frequency intensity dropout including the total intensity and sub-modes intensity is accompanied by sudden dropout simultaneously, which is in good agreement with experimental observation. The power fluctuation is quite annoying in practical applications, therefore it becomes important to study the mechanism of power fluctuation. It is also shown that many factors, such as spontaneous emission noise and feedback parameter, may influence power fluctuation larger than previously expected.