Influence of chirp, jitter and relaxation oscillations on probabilistic properties of laser pulse interference

Abstract

Interference of laser pulses is an essential ingredient of quantum randomness; therefore, probabilistic properties of laser pulses gains new relevance. Here, we consider in detail the combined influence of the three effects - chirp, jitter and relaxation oscillations - on the probability density function of the interference of pulses from a gain-switched semiconductor laser. We develop a rigorous model based on laser rate equations and demonstrate that only consideration of all these three effects together allows describing the interference statistics properly. We supplement our theoretical calculations with corresponding measurements at various pump currents. Experimental results demonstrate perfect agreement with predictions of the model and are well reproduced by Monte-Carlo simulations.