Abstract

In the context of multimode lasers it has appeared recently that few-mode lasers can display complex dynamics, such as antiphase periodic states¹ and dynamical spatial-pattern memory in multimode lasers^2,3 Most recently, we proved on the basis of a weakly nonlinear analysis and demonstrated experimentally that an individual mode shows antiphase motion featuring N relaxation- oscillation frequencies f₁ >f₂>⋯>f_N whereas the total intensity exhibits a unique relaxation oscillation, f₁ just like a single-mode laser, in transient regimes and in the vicinity of stationary states, where N is the number of oscillating modes.⁴ However, the existence of such a self-organized collective behavior in unstable regimes has been left an open question. In this paper we show that the antiphase dynamics is generic, independent of N, and does exist in periodic states and even in chaotic regimes.

© 1993 Optical Society of America