Abstract

When one of the control parameters of a dynamic system varies slowly through a bifurcation point, the effect of the sweeping can cause a delay in the bifurcation.¹ The experimental system studied here is an Ar-ion laser with an AOM mounted inside the cavity to control the cavity losses. The sweeping induces a delay in the switching on of the laser as the system passes through the threshold. Here we present a study of the effect of noise on the delay and how the noise may increase or decrease the effect. The averages and variances were measured for each point of time throughout the sweep along with the statistics of the delay time for different sweep rates. These were compared with the solutions of the Fokker-Planck equation for the single-mode laser near threshold. This effect suggests a way to measure some of the more nebulous parameters of a laser system.

© 1988 Optical Society of America