title: Exploring multistability in semiconductor ring lasers: theory and experiment.
abstract: We report the first experimental observation of multistable states in a single-longitudinal mode semiconductor ring laser. We show how the operation of the device can be steered to either monostable, bistable, or multistable dynamical regimes in a controlled way. We observe that the dynamical regimes are organized in well-reproducible sequences that match the bifurcation diagrams of a two-dimensional model. By analyzing the phase space in this model, we predict how the stochastic transitions between multistable states take place and confirm it experimentally.
authors.affiliation: Department of Applied Physics and Photonics, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, 1050 Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gelens
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Beri
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Van der Sande
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Mezosi
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sorel
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Danckaert
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Verschaffelt
mesh_terms: D007834:Lasers; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D012666:Semiconductors