Abstract

Diode lasers subjected to external optical feedback show a large variety of complicated, and often unwanted, dynamical behavior including destabilization of relaxation oscillations and coherence collapse.¹ Indeed, the wealth of possible chaotic regimes might lead one to conclude that strong optical feedback always destabilizes the system. On the other hand, researchers have successfully built systems with strong optical feedback and observed stable, narrow linewidth, single-mode operation.² This paper will offer an explanation for these observations.

© 1996 Optical Society of America