Abstract

The phenomenon of stochastic resonance was introduced by Benzi et al.¹ to explain the periodicity of the earth’s ice ages. The primary signature of the phenomenon is that the addition of random noise can improve the SNR of a periodically modulated system, relative to that observed with no externally injected noise. We report the first observation of stochastic resonance in an optical device, the bistable ring laser. The experiment exploits a new technique to modulate periodically the asymmetry between the two counterrotating lasing modes. Large enhancements of the SNR of up to 11 dB have been obtained. A theoretical model of a particle in a double well potential is used to obtain a theoretical fit to the experimental data.

© 1988 Optical Society of America