Abstract

The timing jitter in pulse sequences generated by rf modulated semiconductor lasers can be expressed in two distinct ways. Correlated, or stationary,¹ timing jitter is in general induced by the electronics used to drive the laser and is only significant at low frequencies due to the availability of high quality oscillators and synthesisers. Uncorrelated timing jitter² results from the stochastic nature of the spontaneous emission process which is responsible for the generation of the ultrashort laser pulses.

© 1994 Optical Society of America