Chaos and bistability in Kerr lens mode locking lasers

ALEJANDRO A. HNILO; MARCELO G. KOVALSKY; MIGUEL A LAROTONDA

Introduction to controlling laser dynamics

Research Signpost

Lugar: Kerala, India; Año: 2008; p. 169 - 219

 The Kerr-lens effect is at the basis of the modern  technology to generate short and ultrashort laser  pulses. It also produces a wide variety of interesting dynamical behaviors, as period doubling, different  types of chaos and multi-stability. We review the theoretical and experimental studies performed on  solid state lasers (namely: diode-pumped Nd:YAG  and Ti:Sapphire) in recent years. We focus on the description of the dynamics using iterative maps and the comparison with observed results. We also discuss the possibility to enlarge the stable range of operation of femtosecond lasers using a simple scheme of chaos control.