Bifurcation analysis of a semiconductor laser with filtered optical feedback

We study the dynamics and bifurcations of a semiconductor laser with delayed filtered optical feedback, where a part of the output of the laser reenters after spectral filtering. This type of coherent optical feedback is more challenging than the case of conventional optical feedback from a simple mirror, but it provides additional control over the output of the semiconductor laser by means of choosing the filter detuning and the filter width. This laser system can be modeled by a system of delay differential equations with a single fixed delay, which is due to the travel time of the light outside the laser. In this paper we present a bifurcation analysis of the filtered feedback laser. We first consider the basic continuous wave states, known as the external filtered modes (EFMs), and determine their stability regions in the parameter plane of feedback strength versus feedback phase. The EFMs are born in saddle-node bifurcations and become unstable in Hopf bifurcations. We show that for small filter detuning there is a single region of stable EFMs, which splits up into two separate regions when the filter is detuned. We then concentrate on the periodic orbits that emanate from Hopf bifurcations. Depending on the feedback strength and the feedback phase, two types of oscillations can be found. First, there are undamped relaxation oscillations, which are typical for semiconductor laser systems. Second, there are oscillations with a period related to the delay time, which have the remarkable property that the laser frequency oscillates while the laser intensity is almost constant. These frequency oscillations are only possible due to the interaction of the laser with the filter. We determine the stability regions in the parameter plane of feedback strength versus feedback phase of the different types of oscillations. In particular, we find that stable frequency oscillations are dominant for nonzero values of the filter detuning. © 2007 Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics

Universal gradings of orders

For commutative rings, we introduce the notion of a {\em universal grading}, which can be viewed as the "largest possible grading". While not every commutative ring (or order) has a universal grading, we prove that every {\em reduced order} has a universal grading, and this grading is by a {\em finite} group. Examples of graded orders are provided by group rings of finite abelian groups over rings of integers in number fields. We generalize known properties of nilpotents, idempotents, and roots of unity in such group rings to the case of graded orders; this has applications to cryptography. Lattices play an important role in this paper; a novel aspect is that our proofs use that the additive group of any reduced order can in a natural way be equipped with a lattice structure.Comment: Added section 10; added to and rewrote introduction and abstract (new Theorem 1.4 and Examples 1.6 and 1.7

Pure frequency oscillations of semiconductor lasers with filtered optical feedback

A semiconductor laser subject to delayed filtered optical feedback can show pure frequency oscillations with a period of the order to the delay time, while the power remains practically constant. This is remarkable in light of the strong self-phase modulation in semiconductor lasers that couples frequency and power. It turns out that the dynamics of the filter plays an essential role in this behavior, because it changes the instantaneous amount of feedback in response to the instantaneous laser frequency. By using numerical bifurcation techniques we show how frequency oscillations bifurcate in Hopf bifurcatious from the continuous wave solutions known as external filtered modes

The unit theorem for finite-dimensional algebras

The "unit theorem" to which the present mini-course is devoted is a theorem from algebra that has a combinatorial flavour, and that originated in fact from algebraic combinatorics. Beyond a proof, the course also addresses applications, one of which is a proof of the normal basis theorem from Galois theory

Frequency versus relaxation oscillations in a semiconductor laser with coherent filtered optical feedback

We investigate the dynamics of a semiconductor laser subject to coherent delayed filtered optical feedback. A systematic bifurcation analysis reveals that this system supports two fundamentally different types of oscillations, namely relaxation oscillations and external roundtrip oscillations. Both occur stably in large domains under variation of the feedback conditions, where the feedback phase is identified as a key quantity for controlling this dynamical complexity. We identify two separate parameter regions of stable roundtrip oscillations, which occur throughout in the form of pure frequency oscillations