Average intensity and bifurcations in a pulsed laser

The dynamics of a CO₂ laser with SF₆ gas in an intracavity cell was studied by detection of the output pulse intensity average as a function of the laser cavity tuning. The derivative of this average power with respect to the control parameter shows the bifurcations, associated with periodic and chaotic regimes, previously identified in these lasers. The technique can be relevant to study the dynamics in high pulse rate lasers and other nonlinear systems where the average of a specific variable has a significant effect. {} 1996 The American Physical Society.