Chaos synchronization in semiconductor lasers with optoelectronic feedback

Chaos synchronization is experimentally investigated in semiconductor lasers with delayed optoelectronic feedback. Depending on the coupling strength of the driving signal to the receiver, the lasers fall into different regimes of chaos synchronization or modulation. Synchronization happens when the coupling strength to the receiver matches the feedback strength to the transmitter, where the receiver output reproduces the output of the transmitter regardless of the presence of channel distortion or an encoded message. Modulation dominates when the coupling strength is much less than the feedback strength, where the receiver output follows the driving signal. In between, there is no sharp transition between these two regimes but only a mixture of the two phenomena. Driven oscillation is not observed in this optoelectronic feedback system when the coupling strength is increased to a level higher than the feedback strength.     

光注入多模半导体激光器的混沌及其同步

为了在光纤通信中实现多模同步传输以提高通信容量,构建了一个光注入多模半导体激光器开环混沌通信系统,并利用MATLAB数值仿真了系统的同步性能。结果表明,选取合适的系统参量,多模半导体激光器混沌通信系统能够实现完全同步;发射激光器和接收激光器对应模式可以实现完全同步,而且系统对内部参量失配具有较好的容忍性。     

Chaos in semiconductor lasers with optical feedback: theory andexperiment

The authors present a detailed theoretical and experimental investigation of the nonlinear dynamics of a semiconductor laser with optical feedback. The results show that the coherence collapsed state is a chaotic attractor and that chaos is reached for increasing feedback level through a quasi-periodic route interrupted by frequency locking. Furthermore, the coexistence of two attractors, associated with the same external cavity mode, but having different relaxation oscillation frequencies, is demonstrated and explained     

Anticipating synchronization based on optical injection-locking in chaotic semiconductor lasers

Numerical studies for anticipating chaos synchronization in semiconductor lasers with optical feedback are presented. Anticipating chaos synchronization in a delay-differential system is believed to occur when all chaos parameters between the two systems are perfectly coincident with each other. However, we find new schemes of anticipating chaos synchronization when the parameters between the two systems have mismatches. Under these conditions, the time lag between the two laser outputs is equal to that of anticipating chaos synchronization, but the physical origin of the phenomenon comes from optical injection-locking or amplification in laser systems. We show the evidence of such chaotic synchronization using trajectories in the phase space of the phase difference and the carrier density in the laser oscillations.     

Characteristics of chaotic masking in synchronized semiconductor lasers

Modulations imposed on a chaotic optical signal generated by a semiconductor laser can be suppressed by injecting the signal into another similar laser under conditions for chaos synchronization. This filter effect could be used to recover messages hidden in chaotic carriers for robust and secure communications. We use a numerical model to examine the filter properties and show that the filter can be described in terms of differences in characteristic transmission functions for imposed signal and chaotic carrier in the output of the synchronized laser. The filter effect is shown to be larger for lower frequencies and decreases as frequencies approach the relaxation oscillation frequency of the laser in the gigahertz regime, similar to the response of steady-state injection-locked lasers to small-signal modulation. The filter properties are confirmed in experiments using both single and multimode lasers.     

Characteristics of chaos synchronization in semiconductor lasers subject to polarization-rotated optical feedback

We numerically investigate the detailed characteristics of chaos synchronization in semiconductor lasers subject to polarization-rotated optical feedback. The emission of the dominant TE mode of a drive laser is rotated 90 deg and fed back to the laser with time delay. The polarization-rotated TE mode is also injected with time delay into the TM mode of a second laser. Two types of synchronization with different time-lags are found, as in the case for synchronization in semiconductor lasers with nonrotated optical feedback. However, a significant difference to the nonrotated optical feedback case is that neither of the two types of synchronization requires matching of optical carrier frequency between the two lasers.     

Mode partition in semiconductor lasers with optical feedback

The authors point out that random noise processes induce mode partition fluctuations in semiconductor lasers. Mode partition depends on laser parameters and modulation current. However, external optical feedback can also increase mode partition noise. Here, a numerical solution of multimode noise-driven rate equations with time-delayed terms is utilized to investigate mode partition in semiconductor lasers with reflecting feedback. Photon statistics of the main and side modes in semiconductor lasers under both CW operation and dynamic operation are considered. Probability-density curves for the main and side modes are shown. The feedback-induced change of photon statistics of the main and side modes is clearly seen. Numerical results indicate that, if the laser used is exposed to reflections, a more stringent mode discrimination requirement for suppressing the buildup of laser-cavity longitudinal side modes may result. If mode discrimination is insufficient for avoiding the excitation of side modes, the feedback-induced power penalty depends on the fiber dispersion     

Spectral characteristics of semiconductor lasers with optical feedback

Optical feedback-induced changes in the output spectra of several GaAlAs lasers operating at 0.83 μm are described. The feedback radiation obtained from a mirror 60 cm away from the laser is controlled in intensity and phase. Spectral line narrowing or broadening is observed in each laser depending on the feedback conditions. Minimum linewidths observed with feedback are less than 100 kHz. Improved wavelength stability is also obtained with optical feedback resulting in 15 dB less phase noise. An analytical model for the three-mirror cavity is developed to explain these observations.     

Subharmonic modulation distortions in semiconductor lasers with optical feedback

Experimental studies of subharmonic modulation distortions of semiconductor lasers with optical feedback are described. These distortions were found to exhibit almost resonant frequency characteristics and threshold behaviour against the modulation frequency and its depth, respectively. It was inferred that they would be excited by parametric interactions caused by some laser diode parameter changes due to modulation.     

Noise characteristics in line-narrowed semiconductor lasers with optical feedback

Effects of optical-feedback-induced line-narrowing on low-frequency amplitude and phase noise of semiconductor lasers are reported. Free-running laser noise is compared with that of lasers operating with external mirror feedback. While less than 1 dB difference in the amplitude noise with and without feedback is observed, line-narrowed lasers exhibit 15?20 dB reduction in low-frequency wavelength instability, or phase noise.     

Experimental synchronization of mutually coupled semiconductor lasers with optoelectronic feedback

Anticipated or retarded synchronization of a mutually coupled nonlinear system is experimentally studied through a mutually coupled semiconductor laser system subject to optoelectronic feedback. These two types of synchronization are found to arise from a predictable relation between feedback/coupling delay times under particular feedback/coupling strength combinations. A comparison between the experimental results and the theoretical predictions is completed. The experimental results mostly agree with theoretical predictions. System limitations are also discussed.     

Digital optical signal processing with polarization-bistable semiconductor lasers

The operations of a complete set of optical AND, NAND, OR, and NOR gates and clocked opticalS-R, D, J-K,andTflip-flops are demonstrated, based on direct polarization switching and polarization bistability, which we have recently observed in InGaAsP/InP semiconductor lasers. By operating the laser in the direct-polarization-switchable mode, the output of the laser can be directly switched between the TM00and TE00modes with high extinction ratios by changing the injection-current level, and optical logic gates are constructed with two optoelectronic switches or photodetectors. In the polarization-bistable mode, the laser exhibits controllable hysteresis loops in the polarization-resolved power versus current characteristics. When the laser is biased in the middle of hysteresis loop, the light output can be switched between the two polarization states by injection of short electrical or optical pulses, and clocked optical flip-flops are constructed with a few optoelectronic switches and/or photodetectors. The 1 and 0 states of these devices are defined through polarization changes of the laser and direct complement functions are obtainable from the TE and TM output signals from the same laser. Switching of the polarization-bistable lasers with fast-rising current pulses has an instrument-limited mode-switching time on the order of 1 ns. With fast optoelectronic switches and/or fast photodetectors, the overall switching speed of the logic gates and flip-flops is limited by the polarization-bistable laser to < 1 ns. We have demonstrated the operations of these devices using optical signals generated by semiconductor lasers. The proposed schemes of our devices are compatible with monolithic integration based on current fabrication technology and are applicable to other types of bistable semiconductor lasers.     

耦合半导体激光器的多调制延时混沌同步

为了研究多调制延时混沌系统的动力学,用数值计算法研究了非相干光反馈与非相干光注入半导体激光器的多常数延时与多调制延时混沌同步,由于该系统是基于非相干注入的,所以不需要接收激光器与发送激光器频率完全匹配。另外,研究了非相干光反馈半导体激光器输出自相关函数。结果表明,多常数延时和多调制延时两种情况下都能获得高质量的同步,但在多调制延时系统中自相关函数的延时标识可以被隐藏,这一特性大大提高了系统的安全性,非常适用于混沌保密通信系统。     

Analysis of DFB semiconductor lasers with external optical feedback

A theoretical analysis of the sensitivity of DFB semiconductor lasers to external optical feedback is presented. Numerical simulations allow the authors to determine the optimum facet reflectivity, for a given κL value, to minimise the sensitivity to external optical feedback     

Injection locking and synchronization of periodic and chaotic signals in semiconductor lasers

We experimentally investigate the synchronous response of a semiconductor laser to the injection of a periodic or chaotic oscillating optical signal that is generated by a similar semiconductor laser with optical feedback. We show that there are two different types of synchronous response, appearing in separate regimes of laser frequency detuning and injection strength. They are distinguished by the time lag of the slave-laser response with respect to the injection signal from the output of the master laser. The experimental observations are well described by a numerical model consisting of a set of rate equations. It is revealed that the first type of synchronous response corresponds to the complete synchronization solution of the equations and the second type of response is the result of strong driving. The relevance of these two types of synchronous behavior to a number of recent experiments on chaos synchronization and their implications for data encoding/recovery using chaotic carriers are discussed.     

Simple method for feedback parameter determination in optical feedback controlled semiconductor lasers

A simple method is proposed to measure the X parameter which determines the optical feedback influence on the semiconductor laser spectral characteristics. Experimental results are in good agreement with high spectral resolution measurements.     

Synchronization of chaotic lasers by optical feedback forcryptographic applications

We propose a new scheme for synchronization of the optical chaos generated by a semiconductor laser subjected to external reflection. The scheme is based on optical feedback and will be analyzed from the viewpoint of static and dynamic properties and of robustness to external perturbations and noise. An application to cryptographic communications (chaotic shift keying) is finally proposed     

Noise properties of semiconductor lasers due to optical feedback

It has been recognized for some time that reflections back into the cavity of an injection laser from a mechanically unstable external mirror cause noise in the output of the laser (reflection noise). In this paper, noise measurements are presented for index-guided lasers as functions of the output power, the degree of optical isolation and external cavity length (5-15 cm), while current modulation (using 2-4 mA at 50-200 MHz) has been used to reduce the noise levels by as much as 20 dB. It is demonstrated that the mechanism of noise reduction by modulation is the frequency modulation of the laser's spectrum and its interaction with the modes of the external cavity. It is shown that using an optical isolator can give a relative intensity noise of -110 dB while using modulation in addition can reduce this to -125 dB; the bandwidth performance of optical storage systems is discussed in terms of these two schemes.     

Quantifying optical feedback into semiconductor lasers via thermal profiling

We show that thermal profiling can be used to monitor optical feedback into semiconductor lasers in photonic integrated circuits, where direct optical access is impractical. The optical output power of a laser, both free-running and when exposed to optical feedback, can be quantitatively determined from thermal measurements alone, without recourse to direct optical measurements. Furthermore, the shift in threshold current resulting from optical feedback can be determined from the thermal measurements, enabling quantitative determination of the feedback coupling efficiency into the laser.