Fritz Henneberger, Sylvia Schikora and Hans-Jürgen Wünsche

Humboldt University of Berlin, Department of Physics, Berlin, Germany

 

Noninvasive optical control of Semiconductor Lasers

 

We investigate ultra-fast all-optical and noninvasive control of semiconductor lasers under various conditions of operation. The setup [1] implemented experimentally uses feedback from a Fabry-Perot cavity and represents a generalization of the well-known extended time-delayed feedback control to the optical domain [2]. Unlike in electronics, the optical phase makes the control gain a complex quantity which qualitatively changes the scenario and enables control in cases where it is impossible otherwise. We demonstrate noninvasive stabilization of unstable continuous and periodic emission at Hopf- and period-doubling bifurcations as well as in the chaotic regime.

 

<>[1] S. Schikora, P. Hövel, H-J. WÄüunsche, E. Schöll, and F. Henneberger, "All-optical noninvasive control of unstable steady states in a semiconductor laser", Phys. Rev. Letters 97, 213902 (2006).

[2] J. E. S. Socolar, D.W. Sukow, and D. J. Gauthier, "Stabilizing unstable periodic orbits in fast dynamical systems", Phys. Rev. E 50, 3245 (1994).