Abstract

Optically coupled semiconductor lasers are of particular interest in the study of synchronization of chaotic dynamics. A better understanding of the mechanisms that govern this synchronization and its robustness is for instance important in the field of secure communications. As observed in [1], the isochronous solution in the bidirectionally coupling setup is unstable. The coupling delay leads to spontaneous symmetry breaking and only leader-laggard synchronization occurs. We implement an experimental scheme of two bidirectionally coupled semiconductor lasers with an equidistant passive relay (semitransparent mirror) to achieve zero-lag synchronization. The stability properties of this zero-lag solution have been studied, in particular, the presence of noise induced desynchronizations, a behaviour called bubbling [2].

© 2011 Optical Society of America