Reflection-mode optical injection locking

A novel model including the interference effect of master laser reflection is established for reflection-mode optical injection locking. This model sheds insight on the physical origin of some rather distinct but unexplained modulation characteristics of optical injection-locked vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs), including data pattern inversion in on-off keying modulation, a large RF gain at low frequency, and an anomalous DC-suppression under small signal modulation, in specific locking conditions. Excellent agreement is obtained between the simulation and experiment results.