Stepped shape of radiation pulses emitted by double-heterostructure GaAs–AlGaAs injection lasers with stripe contacts

Excitation of the investigated lasers by pulses lasting a few microseconds produced light pulses whose shape differed from those of the current pulses. The top of a light pulse had a step (radiation power discontinuity) where the top of the current pulse was flat. A study was made of the emission spectrum and of the angular distribution in the case of such abrupt changes in the radiation power. Self-focusing was assumed to explain such behavior of stripe-contact lasers.