https://doi.org/10.1140/epjb/e2009-00099-1
Stochastic and coherence resonance in lasers: homoclinic chaos and polarization bistability
1
CNR Instituto Nazionale di Ottica Applicata, Largo E. Fermi 6, 50125 Firenze, Italy
2
Dept. of Physics, University of Firenze, Firenze, Italy
Corresponding author: a tito.arecchi@inoa.it
Received:
26
January
2009
Revised:
13
February
2009
Published online:
18
March
2009
We report Stochastic Resonance and Coherence Resonance phenomena in experiments using CO2 lasers. First, we consider a polarized laser with feedback; for suitable feedback parameters, the laser intensity undergoes homoclinic chaos consisting in the return to a saddle focus, where noise controls the permanence time around the saddle. Second, we discuss a quasi-isotropic laser where noise induces switching between two intensity components with mutually orthogonal polarization.
PACS: 05.40.Ca – Noise / 42.60.Mi – Dynamical laser instabilities; noisy laser behavior / 42.65.Sf – Dynamics of nonlinear optical systems; optical instabilities, optical chaos and complexity, and optical spatio-temporal dynamics
© EDP Sciences, Società Italiana di Fisica, Springer-Verlag, 2009
