Abstract

We have studied the dynamic response of a hybrid bistable device with a delay in the feedback loop when the input intensity is modulated sinusoidally. As predicted theoretically, we observed several interesting effects on the system. Under the action of a small modulation in the stable region of the free-running system, we confirmed the resonance response of the output intensity when the driving frequency is in the vicinity of the eigen-frequency of the state. The nonlinear distortion of the resonant response can be seen by increasing the modulation depth. The frequency locking was carried out in conditions for which the free-running system exhibits nearly oscillatory behavior. When the system was driven at a rationally related frequency, frequency locking has been observed as one would expect in a nonlinear oscillator. When the driving frequency was held fixed and the modulated amplitude was gradually increased with the system in an unstable operating point, locking was followed by a series of bifurcations leading to very irregular and possibly chaotic oscillations.

© 1988 Optical Society of America