The Onset of Coherence Collapse in DBR Lasers

In this letter, we investigate how the onset of coherence collapse depends on laser output power. The lasers were three-section multiquantum-well distributed-Bragg-reflector (MQW-DBR) lasers. The fraction of light reflected back into the lasing mode was varied, and the point at which the transition to coherence collapse occurred was measured. This feedback level varies approximately linearly with laser output power. For these lasers, when the output power is 1 mW, the transition to coherence collapse begins when the optical feedback into the lasing mode is below - 40 dBm; when the feedback power is - 35 dBm the laser line is completely collapsed.