Noise-assisted transmission of binary information: theory and experiment

We study the response of a bistable vertical cavity surface emitting laser to an aperiodic binary signal, by adding a variable amount of noise. The resulting behavior is an example of aperiodic stochastic resonance, and in this work we give a detailed comparison between analytical and numerical results and accurate experimental measurements. We characterize the phenomenon by using different appropriate indicators, which also allow us to quantify the binary information transmission. We show that the quality of the transmission is enhanced by a suitable amount of noise, and we give a physical picture of the phenomenon.