For a gain-switched semiconductor laser we study the statistics of the time at which the laser intensity first reaches a threshold level and also the laser intensity fluctuations in the nonlinear regime. The dispersion in the maximum value of the laser intensity at the first peak of the relaxation oscillations is calculated. A simple relation between this maximum value and the passage time for each individual switch-on event is found.

• Received 26 June 1990

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.43.498