Thisthesis is concerned with the dynamics of semiconductor lasers subject to
optical feedback, with special attention being paid to the coherence properties
of the optical feedback.
The characteristics of relative intensity noise (RIN) of a laser diode subject to coherent optical feedback are numerically simulated using two different theoretical models and good agreement with experimental results is obtained.
For t he first time four regimes of behaviour have been identified, both theoretically and experimentally, when laser diodes are subject to incoherent optical feedback from a mirror.
Optical feedback induced chaotic synchronisation of vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSELs) and incoherent injection synchronisation of edge emitting lasers has also numerically investigated and new synchronisation regimes have been identified.
In this thesis we have also investigated the optical feedback induced polarisation switching phenomena in vertical cavity surface emitting lasers both experimentally and numerically. The results show that the loop hysteresis
width of the polarization bistability decreases and shifts with weak optical
feedback in both case of polarization-preserving and polarisation-selective optical feedback. Good agreement between the numerical simulation and the experimental observation was also obtained.