Injection-Locked Photonic Oscillators

The dynamics of the injection-locking architecture with semiconductor lasers on photonic integrated circuits or on a tabletop configuration with discrete devices have been investigated analytically, numerically, and experimentally for the past 45 years. Today, this simple-looking optical system, which involves only one slave and one master diode laser, keeps delivering surprising physics results and spinning out radical engineering applications. In this article, we review the legacy results of its intricate behavior and articulate a set of forwardlooking applications, spanning from tunable oscillators and ultrafast transmitters to dynamically empowered metamaterials and photonic quantum processors. © 1990-2011 IEEE.