Influence of optical self-injection on the statistical properties of laser-pulse interference

Pulsed optical self-injection markedly affects the emission characteristics of semiconductor lasers. In this work, we analyze its influence on the statistical properties of laser-pulse interference. We experimentally demonstrate that varying the arrival time of reflected optical pulses back into the laser cavity influences the phase diffusion and induces an effect that, by analogy with external optical injection, we call phase locking. A comprehensive theoretical analysis of this phenomenon is also presented.