Chaotic Pulsation of Semiconductor Lasers with a Proton-Bombarded Segment

Recently, a number of theoretical and experimental observations have been made demonstrating chaotic dynamical behavior in nonlinear optical systems. In particular, light output from semiconductor lasers can become chaotic or irregular under external modulation1-2 or when the laser is coupled to an external cavity3-6. In this paper, we report observation of chaotic pulsation in semiconductor lasers with a proton-bombarded segment. Stable and chaotic pulsation regimes of operation were observed both for the isolated laser and the laser coupled to an external cavity.