Abstract
We present experimental and theoretical results of noise-induced attractor hopping between dynamical states found in a single transverse mode vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) subject to parallel optical injection. These transitions involve dynamical states with different polarizations of the light emitted by the VCSEL. We report an experimental map identifying, in the injected power-frequency detuning plane, regions where attractor hopping between two, or even three, different states occur. The transition between these behaviors is characterized by using residence time distributions. We find multistability regions that are characterized by heavy-tailed residence time distributions. These distributions are characterized by a -1.83±0.17 power law. Between these regions we find coherence enhancement of noise-induced attractor hopping in which transitions between states occur regularly. Simulation results show that frequency detuning variations and spontaneous emission noise play a role in causing switching between attractors. We also find attractor hopping between chaotic states with different polarization properties. In this case, simulation results show that spontaneous emission noise inherent to the VCSEL is enough to induce this hopping.
Highlights
Multistable systems are characterized by the coexistence of different attractors for a fixed set of parameters
We present experimental and theoretical results of noise-induced attractor hopping between dynamical states found in a single transverse mode vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) subject to parallel optical injection
We report another example of attractor hopping between two polarized dynamical states: chaos in the parallel polarization (CH) and chaos in both polarizations (CH-both)
Summary
Multistable systems are characterized by the coexistence of different attractors for a fixed set of parameters. Spontaneous emission noise can strongly modify laser dynamics [41], induces random spikes and intermittent switches in bistable regions [42], or causes switchings between bistable linear polarizations in VCSELs following Kramers hopping behavior [43]. Our experimental residence time distributions are characterized by a −1.83 ± 0.17 exponent, instead of the −3/2 observed in typical on-off intermittency This difference in exponents and the previous symmetric behavior are possibly due to the fact that the Hopf bifurcation occurs in a space with a higher dimensionality.
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