Abstract

The mean-field model of the bad-cavity laset with modulated inversion is shown to be equivalent exactly to the nonlinear oscillator in Toda potential driven by the external modulating force. The temporal characteristics of this system under the strong modulation are analyzed extensively by numerical calculations as a function of two control parameters : the dc component of the population inversion and the modulation amplitude. The system exhibits two kinds of optical chaos : the quasiperiodic and the intermittent kicked chaos, via the quasiperiodic instability after the period-doubling cascade and/or the catastrophic crisis. The ergodic properties of these chaos are also investigated.

© 1988 Optical Society of America