Lenstra Daan, Mirasso Claudio R.

Chaotic itinerancy visualized from simulation data for a diode laser with optical feedback
Daan Lenstra, Claudio R. Mirasso, Martijn Mulder
and Hans Spoelder
Department of Physics and Astronomy, Free University,
De Boelelaan 1081, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Chaotic itinerancy is a new concept in nonlinear dynamics proposed by Otsuka [1]. It consists of a deterministic random switching between fixed points ruins (external cavity modes). Recently, Sano [2] showed that low-frequency fluctuations (LFF) which appear in a diode laser with optical feedback is a demonstration of chaotic itinerancy in a real system. Sano's findings were confirmed in our group and it was predicted [3] that the corresponding dynamical behaviour shows 50-100 ps-width peaks in the ouput power. These power peaks have been observed experimentally for the first time [4].

A careful study of the behaviour of the system near the fixed points is expected to provide the ultimate clue as to why in LFF the system shows characteristic drops instead of moving towards the maximum gain mode (a stable fix point in the system).

We will show a video movie of the evolution of the system in 3D phase space. The movie clearly illustrates the concept of chaotic itinerancy for this system and shows the spectacular drop-out events.

1. K. Otsuka, Phys. Rev. Lett., 65 (1990) 329.
2. T. Sano, Phys. Rev. A, 50 (1994) 2719.
3. G. H. M. van Tartwijk, A. M. Levin and D. Lenstra, IEEE J. Sel. Top. in QE, 1 (1995) 466.
4. I. Fisher, G. H. M. van Tartwijk, A. M. Levin, W. Elsä er, E. O. Glöbel and D. Lenstra, submitted for publication.