Abstract

Stochastic resonance has been put forth to describe the phenomenon of an increasing output signal to noise ratio with an increase in noise power at the input of a nonlinear system. The nonlinearity of the system is crucial in providing mixing between the two signals. The first experimental observation of this effect was performed by Fauve et aid by observing electronic switching in a Schmitt trigger circuit driven by both modulation and noise. In this paper we describe the observation of stochastic resonance in a bistable distributed feedback laser. Longitudinal mode switching is measured in the laser output spectrum to provide a process in which signal to noise enhancement can be observed.

© 1994 Optical Society of America