Bistability and negative resistance in semiconductor lasers

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Abstract
Experimental results of a buried heterostructure laser with a segmented contact to achieve inhomogeneous gain are presented. Measurements reveal a negative differential resistance over the absorbing section. Depending on the source impedance of the dc current source driving the absorbing section, this negative resistance can lead to (i) bistability with a very large hysteresis in the light‐current characteristic without self‐pulsation or (ii) a small hysteresis with self‐pulsations at microwave frequencies. An analysis, which includes the electrical part of the device, leads to an explanation of self‐pulsations in inhomogeneously pumped lasers without having to rely on a sublinear gain dependence on injected carrier concentration.