Intermittent dynamical state switching in discrete-mode semiconductor lasers subject to optical feedback

Intermittent dynamics switching on the route to chaos in a discrete-mode laser with long time-delayed feedback is experimentally and numerically studied by analyzing the time series, power spectra, and phase portraits. The results show two types of dynamics switching: one or multiple times regular intermittent dynamics switching between stable state and square-wave envelope period-one oscillation within one feedback round time, and the irregular intermittent dynamics switching between stable state and quasi-periodic or multi-states or chaos with higher feedback ratio and bias currents. The relationship between the duty cycle of period-one oscillation and the feedback ratio has been analyzed. The map of the dynamics distribution in the parameter space of feedback ratio and bias current is plotted for a better understanding of dynamics evolution in long external cavity discrete-mode lasers.