Optical pulse generation in single section InAs/GaAs quantum dot edge emitting lasers under continuous wave operation

Observation of sub-picosecond pulses from a single section Fabry Perot InAs/GaAs edge emitting quantum dot (QD) based laser at 1.3 μm under continuous wave operation is reported. After group delay dispersion compensation, pulse durations as short as 770 fs in a 45 GHz repetition rate device have been measured, with 1.9 W of peak power and a narrow radio frequency spectrum of only a few kHz linewidth. The experiments show evidence of an unexplored mode locking regime in the InAs/GaAs quantum dot material system, which still needs theoretical modelling and further analysis.