Reduction of nonlinear distortion in directly modulated semiconductor lasers by coherent light injection

A theoretical investigation of the second- and third-order intermodulation distortions (IMDs) in an injection-locked semiconductor laser under small-signal modulation is presented. The results show that a substantial reduction of the laser nonlinearity can be obtained, depending on both the injection level and frequency detuning between the master and slave lasers. The intensity modulation frequency response is also reported and shows that the injection-locked laser may also have a significantly improved behavior over the same free-running laser, revealed mostly in the reduced resonance peak and the broadening of the modulation bandwidth available.