Abstract

Semiconductor lasers are known for their tendency to operate in multimode regime. From an applications point of view, originally multimode operation was considered to be detrimental, for example because it deteriorates the spectral purity of signals in an optical telecommunications link. On the other hand, multimode operation is well-suited for WDM applications and is currently becoming a 'hot topic' in the technical community. The multimode operation of the laser attracted attention after the observation of remarkable operational regimes such as the cascade of modes turning on and off in well defined sequences as shown by Yacomotti et al. [1]. Moreover, the multimode chaotic output field of a perturbed semiconductor laser, due to its large degrees of freedom, can be exploited as secure carrier of information via chaotic encryption methods [2] where currently a complex optical chaotic emitter is in demand. Today, obtaining better understanding of multimode dynamics of semiconductor lasers is a hot, and potentially very profitable, scientific topic.

© 2007 IEEE