Intensity and polarization self-pulsations in VCSELs

We develop a model that describes the polarization dynamics of VCSELs with an absorbing region surrounding the active zone. We find that the dynamical behavior of the optical field is organized in four regions: stable linearly-polarized operation, intensity pulsations of a linearly-polarized component, pulsations of both total intensity and polarization, and polarization self-pulsations with constant total intensity. We characterize the four regions by computing the polarization resolved optical and power spectra. The predicted scenario agrees with recent experimental results.