Observation of Polarization Switching in Vertical-Cavity Surface-Emitting Lasers at Constant Injection Current

This study investigated the thermal characteristics of the polarization switching (PS) in vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) at constant injection current. The experiments were performed with a quasi-step function current experiment. A simplified temperature rate equation was used to simulate the experiment of the step function. The consistency of the experiments and simulations concludes that the thermal effect plays a major role in PS and PS's hysteresis. These results contribute to the understanding of the mechanism of VCSEL's polarization switching.