Abstract

An optical resonator containing a fast Kerr-type nonlinearity has been discussed by Ikeda as a paradigm of an optical system exhibiting chaos.¹ Following that theoretical prediction, instabilities in nonlinear resonators have been intensively analyzed in several experimental approaches, typically using a optical fiber as the nonlinear medium to suppress the transversal instability of the system.^2-5 The system was excited by a train of mode-locked laser pulses to achieve sufficient nonlinear phase shift within one round trip of the resonator. In this talk we present experimental data from a nonlinear fiber ring resonator that were obtained by direct digitization of the pulse train. The resonator was synchronously driven by 15 ps pulses from an additive pulse mode-locked Nd:YAG laser at λ = 1.32 µm. This wavelength lies very close (≈5 nm) to the zero dispersion wavelength of our optical fiber; this allows the full dynamical richness of the system to unfold.

© 1994 Optical Society of America