Abstract

Studies of active waveguides with short optical pulses provide information about fundamental carrier dynamics and nonlinear processes relevant to high speed modulation and optical communication. We investigate these dynamics in AlGaAs amplifiers around 0.8 μm and InGaAsP amplifiers around 1.5 μm using optical pulses approximately 100 fs in duration. Novel measurement techniques are employed to elucidate contributions to both gain and refractive index nonlinearities. By identifying a delay in the onset of carrier heating, we are able to observe an ultrafast dynamic we attribute to spectral-hole burning.

© 1993 Optical Society of America