Abstract

A diode laser with feedback is a paradigm for studying nonlinear dynamics in delayed systems. At a fundamental level, these investigations are an ideal test bed for laboratory investigations of delayed systems. At an applied level, some of the dynamics, such as chaos in intensity of light, can be exploited for data encryption. However, for such applications to be realized, there is a need for robust control techniques that are external to the laser and which can be used to elicit a desired dynamical response. Filtered optical feedback (FOF), during which the spectral content of feedback light is altered by a filter, provides precisely this kind of control mechanism. A filter, due to its nonlinear response function, introduces a controllable nonlinearity in the feedback system, and its influence on the laser dynamics can be manipulated via the filter’s bandwidth, and its detuning from the laser frequency.

© 2003 Optical Society of America