Abstract

Experimental demonstrations of laser devices emulating the inhibitory and excitatory behavior of neurons by means of polarization [1] or wavelength [2] switching, advocate that lasers will play a significant role in the field of neuromorphic photonics. Manipulation of both output wavelength and polarization dynamics within a single device, offers additional degrees of freedom in terms of excitatory and inhibitory behavior of artificial neurons, but pose a challenge. This can be potentially realized by QD spin Vertical-Cavity Surface-Emitting Lasers (VCSELs) utilizing the polarization dynamics of both Ground State (GS) and Excited State (ES).The polarization dynamics of spin VCSELs have been researched extensively due to their ability to control the output polarization via either optical pumping of spin polarized carriers and/or electrical injection [3]. The research has focused primarily in Quantum Well (QW)- spin VCSELs while it has recently been extended to QD-spin VCSELs as well. However, the impact of ES on the dynamics QD spin VCSEIs has not yet been studied.

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