Chaotic Behaviors of Bistable Laser Diodes and Its Application in Synchronization of Optical Communication

Period-doubling routes to chaos behavior in bistable laser diodes is examined numerically. An external sinusoidal electronic drive is injected to generate chaotic light output. Phase portrait, Poincaré map, bifurcation diagram, and Lyapunov exponent are then calculated to assert the existence of chaos. Furthermore, according to Pecora and Carroll's theory, a drive-response system is constructed by using the bistable laser diodes to mask the sinusoidal electronic signal with chaotic light. Synchronization can be achieved for optical simplex and duplex transmissions using bistable laser diodes. The proposed synchronization scheme between two separate chaotic systems provides a key step toward optical chaotic communication.