Abstract

Experimental and theoretical results for the instabilities and chaos of an infrared laser containing a saturable intracavity absorber are presented. By making use of a phase portrait analysis, the instabilities have been classified through their orbits around fixed points. The transition between different instability operations presents an intermediate hesitation regime, with large fluctuations in the return times. The laser with level structures in the amplifier and absorber media has been modeled in a rate equation approach. The theoretical results for the laser threshold and the Hopf bifurcation have been derived through a fitting of the laser-absorber coupling parameters. The numerical analysis for the dynamic evolution has evidenced the important role played by other quasihomoclinic orbits in the phase space.

© 1989 Optical Society of America