Excitability of Chaotic Transients in a Semiconductor Laser

A multi-section semiconductor laser is used to combine two fundamental phenomena observed so far only separately: excitability and chaotic transients. Lasers with such properties could be useful for chaotic communication. Semiconductor lasers with integrated optical feedback are excellent candidates to study such novel scenarios. The multi-section configuration enables us to tune feedback parameters in a wide range and to explore the phase space of the device in a systematic way.