Reflection sensitivity of dual-state quantum dot lasers

This work experimentally and theoretically demonstrates the effect of excited state lasing on the reflection sensitivity of dual-state quantum dot lasers,showing that the laser exhibits higher sensitivity to external optical feedback when reaching the excited state lasing threshold.This sensitivity can be degraded by increasing the excited-to-ground-state energy separation,which results in a high excited-to-ground-state threshold ratio.In addition,the occurrence of excited state lasing decreases the damping factor and increases the linewidth enhancement factor,which leads to a low critical feedback level.These findings illuminate a path to fabricate reflectioninsensitive quantum dot lasers for isolator-free photonic integrated circuits.