Feedback-Induced Steady-State Light Bunching Above the Lasing Threshold

We develop a full quantum-optical approach for optical self-feedback of a microcavity laser. These miniaturized devices work in a regime between the quantum and classical limit and are test-beds for the differences between a quantized theory of optical self-feedback and the corresponding semiclassical theory. The light intensity and photon statistics are investigated with and without an external feedback: We show that in the low-gain limit, where relaxation oscillations do not appear, the recently observed photon bunching in a quantum dot microcavity laser with optical feedback can be accounted for only by the fully quantized model. By providing a description of laser devices with feedback in the quantum limit we reveal novel insights into the origin of bunching in quantized and semiclassical models.