The chaotic behavior of on external-cavity semiconductor laser (ECSL) working in a regime of low-frequency fluctuations (LFFs) can be controlled by external electro-optical phase or intensity current modulation. It is shown by numerical simulation that, for specific values of the modulating frequency and amplitude, the phase difference between the laser power drop-out and the modulator remains constant in time leading to phase-synchronized states, steady LFFs, so called m:n phase synchronization. The degree of stabilization is determined by calculating Shannon's entropy and by the analyzing the stability of the phase locking. The synchronization regions are mapped and zones of low and high amplitude chaos are identified. The light emission can be stabilized from a regime of large amplitude chaotic oscillations corresponding to LFFs to one of low-amplitude chaotic or even periodic oscillations. The dynamics of the laser can be controlled when the period of the modulating signal is comparable with the laser itinerancy time between consecutive external-cavity modes.

Date Published: 13 June 2007
PDF: 9 pages
Proc. SPIE 6603, Noise and Fluctuations in Photonics, Quantum Optics, and Communications, 660329 (13 June 2007); doi: 10.1117/12.728068

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 6603:
Noise and Fluctuations in Photonics, Quantum Optics, and Communications
Leon Cohen, Editor(s)