All-optical noninvasive chaos control of a semiconductor laser

We demonstrate experimentally control of a chaotic system on time scales much shorter than in any previous study. Combining a multisection laser with an external Fabry-Perot etalon, the chaotic output transforms into a regular intensity self-pulsation with a frequency in the 10-GHz range. The control is noninvasive as the feedback from the etalon is minimum when the target state is reached. The optical phase is identified as a crucial control parameter. Numerical simulations agree well with the experimental data and uncover global control properties.