We present a scheme whereby a static non-linear, non-invertible transmission
function performed by the electro-optic Mach-Zehnder modulator produces highly
complex optical chaos. The scheme allows the deterministic transformation of
low-dimensional band-limited chaotic signals into much higher-dimensional
structures with broadband spectra and without using any delay elements or
feedback. Standard benchmark tests show that all the considered complexity
indices are highly increased due to this transformation in a controlled
fashion. This mechanism allows the design of simple optoelectronic delayed
oscillators with extremely complex chaotic output.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures. To appear in Applied Physics Letters (August
2012