Polarization dynamics in vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers with optical feedback: experiment and model

We study the polarization-resolved dynamics of a vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser with mode-matched and polarization-preserving optical feedback. The total power can display low-frequency fluctuations, which are associated with drops in power of the dominant linearly polarized mode and with bursts of power of the depressed mode. However, for most parameter values the vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser output does not display low-frequency fluctuations, although antiphase dynamics between the two linear polarization components has been found. A theoretical model that includes all reflections in the external cavity with a minimum computational cost is developed.