Multimode semiconductor laser with selective optical feedback

We study a multimode semiconductor laser subject to moderate selective optical feedback. The steady state of the laser is destabilized by a Hopf bifurcation and exhibits a period-doubling route to chaos. We also show the existence of a heteroclinic connection between a saddle node and an unstable focus that can be associated with experimentally observed multimode low-frequency fluctuations. This heteroclinic connection coexists with a chaotic attractor resulting from the period-doubling process.