Experimental characterization of the bifurcation structure in an erbium-doped fiber laser with pump modulation

The bifurcation structure of phase space is investigated experimentally in an erbium-doped fiber laser with a sinusoidal pump modulation. We demonstrate a rich variety of bifurcations and dynamical states which appear in primary saddle-node bifurcations and discuss their relation to the main laser resonance. The systematic organization of coexisting attractors allows one to predict the behavior of the fiber laser, when initial conditions are allowed to evolve to their final states.