Time-Resolved Optical Spectrum Measurement of Multi-Mode Fabry-Perot Laser Diodes

Fabry-Perot (FP) laser diodes usually have multiple longitudinal modes. An optical spectrum analyzer (OSA) is able to measure the average power distribution of the mode structure but cannot detect the dynamics of mode competition which is the origin of the mode partition noise. We demonstrate a time-resolved optical spectrum measurement technique based on frequency-to-time conversion through time gating, chromatic dispersion, and real-time waveform sampling. This allows to investigate the dynamics of mode competition and correlation of relative intensity noises among different FP modes of the diode laser.