574 Vol. 34, No.

3 / March 2017 / Journal of the Optical Society of America B Research Article

Control of dynamics in a loss-modulated

erbium-doped fiber ring laser
GYANENDRA KUMAR1 AND R. VIJAYA1,2,*
1
Department of Physics, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, Kanpur 208016, India
2
Centre for Lasers and Photonics, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, Kanpur 208016, India
*Corresponding author: rvijaya@iitk.ac.in

Received 8 November 2016; revised 18 January 2017; accepted 18 January 2017; posted 19 January 2017 (Doc. ID 280461);
published 15 February 2017

An experimental investigation of the time-domain dynamics of an erbium-doped fiber ring laser is carried out by
the loss modulation technique, using an intensity modulator in the ring cavity, in the modulation frequency range
of 1–60 kHz. By changing the four control parameters of pumping ratio, modulation frequency, modulation
index, and modulator bias voltage, the laser dynamics can be modified all the way from period-1 to the chaotic
regime. The presence of period-1, period-2, period-4, higher periods, and chaos confirm that the chaos is achieved
through a period-doubling route. However, period-3 and period-6 are also obtained through other routes for
certain parametric choices. The effect of the pumping ratio is also discussed. A higher value of pumping ratio
requires a higher modulating signal amplitude to push the laser into the chaotic regime until the second laser
threshold. Besides this, the chaotic regimes for the higher pumping ratio are wider in frequency and shifted
toward higher frequencies. Calculations done with an established theoretical model provide a suitable
handle on the parameters and help in emphasizing the control possible in this multiparameter dynamical
system. © 2017 Optical Society of America
OCIS codes: (140.3500) Lasers, erbium; (060.4080) Modulation; (060.2330) Fiber optics communications; (190.3100) Instabilities
and chaos.

https://doi.org/10.1364/JOSAB.34.000574

1. INTRODUCTION We have reported on chaos generation [21] through a loss-

Erbium-doped fiber amplifiers (EDFAs) and lasers have re-
ceived much attention in research because of their immensely
lucrative applications in fields such as optical communications
[1], LIDAR technology [2], and biomedical sensors [3,4].
Currently, EDFA is the key candidate used as an in-line am-
plifier in fiber-optics communications [5]. Chaotic erbium-
doped fiber lasers (EDFLs) are used as indispensable tools in
secure communications [6–9], while high-frequency chaos is
useful in random number generation [10]. Even though a sig-
nificant amount of work has been done earlier on chaos gen-
eration in EDFL under different techniques, such as pump
modulation [11–16], loss modulation [17–22], optical loop
mirror [23], and by inserting a specialty fiber into the ring
[24], reports of controlling chaotic dynamics are less frequent.
Since the time-dependent functioning of the heart and neurons
[3,4,25,26] exhibits periodic response during their normal con-
ditions and chaotic response in the case of any malfunction, it is
imperative to understand the control aspects of their chaotic
dynamics. Understanding the role of accessible factors in the
dynamics of EDFL is a starting point to model the complex dy-
namics of physiological systems using a prototypical fiber laser.
modulated erbium-doped fiber ring laser (EDFRL) and the de-
tailed studies of its nonlinear dynamics with the variation of
modulation frequency and modulation index [22]. In the pre-
sent work, our focus is to study the dynamics of an EDFRL
under the loss-modulation technique but in a larger parameter
space in order to understand the features of chaos control. We do
this by varying the pump power of the fiber laser, as well as by
modulating the cavity loss at a combination of frequencies. The
latter has been achieved by simply tuning the bias voltage of the
modulator used inside the ring cavity of the laser to be in its
slightly nonlinear regime. We experimentally studied the laser
dynamics for three distinct bias voltages of 2, 4, and 6 V for the
modulating signal amplitude and a modulating frequency range
of 10–140 mV and 1–60 kHz, respectively. The low-frequency
dynamics is a key process for a mapping between the function-
ing of the laser system and a physiological system such as the
heart. Low-frequency dynamics can enhance our understand-
ing of the time-dependent functioning of several physiological
systems [3,25–27].
Our emphasis on loss-modulated fiber lasers is for two rea-
sons. On one hand, we have demonstrated [22] that it gives

0740-3224/17/030574-09 Journal © 2017 Optical Society of America

 Research Article Vol. 34, No. 3 / March 2017 / Journal of the Optical Society of America B 575

finer control of the fiber laser’s dynamics in comparison to the

more-common pump modulation technique. On the other
hand, the analysis of fiber laser dynamics when its pump laser
is intentionally modulated is not as straightforward as it is often
made out to be. Semiconductor lasers have several intrinsic
rates, such as their cavity decay rate, spontaneous carrier relax-
ation rate, differential carrier relaxation rate, and the nonlinear
carrier relaxation rate [28]. When the semiconductor laser
pumping the fiber laser is modulated through its driver current,
the subtle features in the dynamics of the semiconductor laser
also affect the fiber laser dynamics. Thus, the fiber laser dynam-
ics are not merely due to the population of its pumping level
being modulated periodically at the rate of pump modulation Fig. 1. Schematic of the erbium-doped fiber ring laser with intracavity-
frequency but are also due to a composite (nonperiodic) modu- loss modulation using a Mach–Zehnder modulator.
lation effect on its pump level population arising from the
dynamics of the semiconductor laser system pumping it, influ-
enced by its own decay rates. On the flip side, the cavity-loss
to couple the pump wavelength and the laser output wave-
modulation is most powerful in affecting the laser dynamics
length together to form a ring cavity. An isolator in the ring
only near the natural frequency of the fiber laser, which is slow
for 1550 nm wavelength ensures a unidirectional propagating
[on the kilohertz (kHz) level]. However, many physiological
wave cavity configuration. A coupler with a splitting ratio of
systems do operate at kHz frequencies and studying/controlling
99∶1 taps out 1% of intracavity power to view the spectral re-
the laser dynamics in this frequency range is an advantage.
sponse of the laser on an optical spectrum analyzer (OSA)
Through this work, we establish that the dynamical state of
(EXFO, FTB-5240S). The rest of the intracavity power goes
a fiber laser can be tuned ever so slightly with the help of multi-
to another coupler with a splitting ratio of 80∶20. The 20%
ple parameters in the case of intracavity modulation. The im-
part is fed to an oscilloscope (Agilent, MSO-9404A) through
portance of multiple parameters in understanding the dynamics
a high-speed photodetector (PD) (Thorlabs, DET01CFC,
of a system and the utility of fine tuning the dynamics is well
sampling rate of 2 GSa−1 ) for time-domain measurements,
understood. In order to make the experiments simple, our de-
while the 80% part is again fed back to the ring, which passes
sign requires the acquisition and analysis of time-series data at
subsequently through a Mach–Zehnder modulator (MZM)
the output of the laser. Apart from the experimental results, the
(Photline, MXER LN). There is a polarization controller
complexity of the dynamics necessitates an understanding of a
(PC) at the input end of the modulator since the input fiber
numerical model since it can help in simulating scenarios that
of the modulator is polarization sensitive. The DC power sup-
are normally difficult to achieve in a controlled fashion during
ply and the RF source provide the bias voltage and the modu-
the experiments. Therefore, we supplement our experimental
lating signal, respectively, to the modulator. The total cavity
results with those from the model. In this study, the pump
length of the laser is nearly 13 m. For generating chaos, it is
power is restricted to be well below the second laser threshold.
mandatory that the system should have at least three variables,
The second threshold is the pump power above which the
while fiber lasers have only two variables of population inver-
laser starts showing time-dependent unstable behavior or self-
sion and lasing intensity. Hence, to study the chaotic condition
pulsing, even without any external modulation, eventually lead-
ing to chaos under appropriate conditions [29]. in fiber lasers, the third variable is to be provided externally. In
This paper is organized as follows. The experimental details this work, we use cavity-loss modulation as the third variable.
for the loss modulation are discussed in Section 2. In Section 3,
the results of the experimental study on the laser dynamics for 3. EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
different bias voltages (DC) of the modulator, different driving
amplitudes/frequencies (RF) of the modulator, and two differ- Since the motivation here is to study the nonlinear dynamics of
ent pumping ratios are presented. This helps in constructing an oscillator (fiber laser here), its natural frequency becomes a
the multiparameter dynamical diagram of the EDFRL. A brief key parameter. In the study of lasers, the natural (or fundamen-
description of the model used in the calculations is given in tal) frequency is the relaxation oscillation frequency (ROF).
Section 4, followed by the calculated results in Section 5 on the The ROF is decided by the excited state lifetime of the relevant
influence of all the parameters. Conclusions of the work are transition, the cavity round-trip time, and the pumping ratio
summarized in Section 6. [30]. For our fiber laser construction, ROF is of the order of
kHz. We measured it in the experiment by modulating the cav-
ity loss with a low-frequency square wave. The sharp cavity-loss
2. EXPERMENTAL SETUP variation at the rising and falling edge of the square wave acts as
The schematic of the EDFRL experimental setup is shown in the impulse, and the laser output intensity shows relaxation os-
Fig. 1. Here, the erbium-doped fiber (EDF) of 8 m length, with cillations in time before recovering its steady-state (time-
an erbium ion concentration of 3.535 × 1025 ions∕m3 , is independent) value if the repetition rate and the duty cycle
pumped by a laser diode (Lumics) at a wavelength of of the square wave are appropriate. Since the laser has a con-
980 nm, and a wavelength division multiplexer (WDM) is used stant pump power as its input, it exhibits the relaxation
 576 Vol. 34, No. 3 / March 2017 / Journal of the Optical Society of America B
oscillations only when its cavity loss or gain is abruptly changed
by a modulator. Due to the sudden change of loss/gain, the
steady state of the laser gets disturbed and it tries to regain
its steady state through damped oscillations, and the frequency
of these damped oscillations is the ROF [30].
In this measurement, the frequency and amplitude of the
modulating signal are crucial. The modulating frequency
should be low enough such that in every period, the laser
can regain its steady state successfully. In addition, the ampli-
tude of the modulating signal should be such that the steady
state value of laser output is not changed. For the bias voltage
(V b ) of 4 V and a pump power of 33 mW, the time-domain
behavior of the laser output (black line) and the modulating
signal (50 Hz, 20 mV, square wave, red line) for the duty cycle
of 50% are shown in Fig. 2(a). To see the relaxation oscillations
more clearly, the transient behavior of the laser is shown in
Fig. 2(b) for a shorter time span (92–96 ms). The ROF is
the Fourier transform of the oscillatory regime, which is
marked in Fig. 2(b), and the corresponding Fourier transform
is given in Fig. 2(c). The measured values of the ROF are 15.5,
13.7, and 12.5 kHz for the bias voltages of 2, 4, and 6 V, re-
spectively. Since the cavity loss reduces with increase in bias
voltage, ROF is directly proportional to the cavity loss [30].
One may note that the ROF steadily decreases when the bias
voltage is increased from 2 to 6 V. With the variation of bias
voltage, the pump power for the lasing threshold also changes
due to a changed value of total cavity loss. In our work, we set
the pump power in such a way that the pumping ratio is either
1.2 or 1.4 for all the bias voltages. For the bias voltages of 2, 4,
and 6 V, the values of pump powers used in the experiment and
the pump powers for the lasing threshold are mentioned in
Table 1.
In this work, we study the case of the intracavity-loss modu-
lation technique for laser dynamics, and we found from the
ROF measurement that the natural frequency of the laser is
in the 12 to 16 kHz range. There are different operational
parameters in the experiment to control the dynamics of the
laser. These are (i) pumping ratio, (ii) modulation frequency,
(iii) modulation index, and (iv) modulator bias voltage. The
pumping ratio is defined as the ratio of operating pump
Fig. 2. (a) Transient output, (b) relaxation oscillations, and (c) the
corresponding Fourier transform of the square-wave loss-modulated
EDFRL output. (V b
4 V, P
1.2.)
Research Article
Table 1. Values of Threshold Pump Powers for Lasing
and the Values of Pump Powers Used in the Experiments
for the Pumping Ratios of 1.2 and 1.4 at Different Bias
Voltages
Bias Threshold Pump Pump
Voltage Pump Power Power (mW) Power (mW)
(V) (mW) (P
1.2) (P
1.4)
2 32 38.5 44.5
4 27.5 33 38.5
6 25 30 35
power to the threshold pump power for lasing. The other three
parameters are all related to the modulator used inside the ring
cavity. The pumping ratio influences the laser dynamics since
the ROF value of the laser depends on it, while by tuning the
parameters (ii) and (iii), the dynamical regimes of the laser can
be switched to any linear or nonlinear regime [22]. We do not
attempt to vary the EDF length or the coupler ratio in this work
since they cannot be automated during an eventual modeling
of a physiological system.
The role of driving frequency (resonant or nonresonant with
the natural frequency) and driving amplitude (mild or strong
perturbation) in the dynamics of an oscillator is straightfor-
ward. However, in the present work, we have discussed the
nonlinear dynamics of EDFRLs studied by modifying the bias
voltage of the modulator as 2, 4, and 6 V. The effect of the
modulator bias voltage is not linear as we show below. Thus,
the role of this parameter is somewhat different in deciding the
laser’s dynamics. In addition, we have also compiled the effect
of all the four operational parameters mentioned earlier into a
multiparameter diagram.
The modulator’s characteristic is shown in Fig. 3(a). The
biasing points corresponding to 2, 4, and 6 V are indicated
by symbols “A,” “B,” and “C” in the modulator characteristic,
respectively. On varying the bias point from A to C, the passive
cavity loss of the ring reduces. Hence, the wavelength of lasing
will increase. It is reported in the literature that in the case of an
erbium-doped fiber laser, the lasing wavelength increases with a
decrease in the cavity loss in view of the slope of the gain curve
in the range of operating conditions relevant here [31]. For the
pumping ratio (P) of 1.2, the lasing wavelengths measured for
our laser system corresponding to modulator biasing points A,
B, and C are 1562, 1567, and 1569.5 nm, respectively, as
shown in Fig. 3(b). Here, it is noticed that by varying the bias
Fig. 3. (a) Input–output characteristic of the modulator measured
with an input optical power of 2 mW at the wavelength of 1550 nm.
(b) Spectral output of the laser measured with the OSA for different
modulator bias voltages. (P
1.2.)
 Research Article Vol. 34, No. 3 / March 2017 / Journal of the Optical Society of America B
voltage in steps of 2 V, the shift in the lasing wavelength is not
equal since the loss variation is not linear when we move from
A to B and B to C and also because the gain curve of erbium
ions in silica does not have a constant slope in this wavelength
range [31]. As a result of the modulator characteristic shown in
Fig. 3(a), a pure sinusoidal modulating signal will result in a
pure sinusoidal optical signal at the modulator output only
if the modulator is biased at B (in the linear range of the char-
acteristic). When the modulator is biased at A and C, the op-
tical signal will not be a perfect replica of the modulating signal
and will have frequencies other than those of the modulating
signal. This implies that the cavity field is modulated at more
than one frequency simultaneously when the modulator is
biased at A or C.
The modulator is biased at “A” and the peak-to-peak am-
plitude (V pp ) of the sinusoidal RF signal is kept at the lowest
possible value of 10 mV. For this value of V pp , the values of
modulation indices are 0.0012, 0.0009, and 0.00011 when the
bias voltages are 2, 4, and 6 V, respectively. The modulation
index is the ratio of loss variation due to modulating signal and
the total passive cavity loss of the ring. On increasing the
modulation frequency from 1 to 60 kHz, the time-domain out-
put of the laser shows superharmonic, subharmonic, and fun-
damental resonance peaks at 7, 25, and 12.5 kHz, respectively,
which are shown in Fig. 4(a) with red triangles. On increasing
the modulator bias voltage to 4 V, only the fundamental and
subharmonic resonances are observed at the frequencies of 11.2
and 25.2 kHz. This is shown in Fig. 4(a) with the blue crosses.
When the bias voltage is increased to 6 V, only the fundamental
resonance is observed at a frequency of 12 kHz. At any given
driving signal amplitude, the effective modulation index de-
creases with an increase in bias voltage until V π . Here, V π is
the bias voltage for which the insertion loss of the modulator
is minimum. As the bias voltage is lowered, the modulation
index decreases and the extent of nonlinearity in the dynamics
is expected to be reduced. However, the nonlinear nature of the
modulator characteristic at the bias voltages of 2 and 6 V will
play a role.
The fundamental resonance peaks are at different frequen-
cies for the different bias voltages. It is expected to be due to
different values of fundamental frequencies [the ROF is the
fundamental frequency in our case] at different bias voltages.
The ROF is a function of total cavity loss [30], and in our case
the cavity loss varies with modulator bias voltage, even though
the pumping ratio is fixed (1.2). Earlier in this section, we men-
tioned that the measured values of the ROF are 15.5, 13.7, and
12.5 kHz for the bias voltages of 2, 4, and 6 V, respectively.
Fig. 4. Measured output of the EDFRL for three different modu-
lator bias voltages at a fixed pumping ratio (P
1.2) and RF peak-
to-peak voltages of (a) V pp
10 mV and (b) V pp
25 mV.
577
However, these ROF values were measured with square wave
modulation (infinite frequency content) and the laser system
responded predominantly at its natural frequency. While the
modulating signal is sinusoidal for the results of Fig. 4(a),
the cavity field gets modulated sinusoidally when the bias volt-
age is 4 V and nonsinusoidally when the bias voltage is 2 and
6 V. As a result of this, the change in fundamental resonance is
nonmonotonic in Fig. 4(a) for a monotonic change in bias volt-
age (fundamental frequencies are 12.5, 11.2, and 12 kHz when
the bias voltages are 2, 4, and 6 V, respectively). Thus, the
modulator bias voltage is an important additional parameter
to control the laser dynamics.
On increasing the V pp to 25 mV, the laser shows more com-
plex dynamics and chaos, as shown in Fig. 4(b). The values of
modulation indices for this case corresponding to 2, 4, and 6 V
of bias voltage are 0.003, 0.0023, and 0.00028, respectively. At
the bias voltage of 2 V, the laser exhibits period-1, period-2,
higher periods, and finally chaos in the frequency span of
21.5 to 28 kHz on increasing the modulation frequency from
1 to 30 kHz. With a further increase in frequency, it again goes
to periodic states. This implies that for a fixed pumping ratio,
the laser output has a chaotic nature only for certain combina-
tions of modulation index and modulation frequency. The
meaning of different periods and chaos is discussed in detail
in our previous work [21]. In contrast, there is no chaos at
the bias voltages of 4 and 6 V for the same driving amplitude
(25 mV). This indicates that on increasing the bias voltage from
zero to the value of V π , the extent of nonlinearity in laser
dynamics sensed by the laser decreases. This was also clear in
Fig. 4(a). Thus, the bias voltage can play a key role to push the
system to a suitable linear or nonlinear regime.
Apart from the bias voltage of the modulator, pumping ratio
is another parameter that is useful to vary the dynamical state of
the system. Two different pumping ratios (of 1.2 and 1.4) are
used in the experiments. To see the effect of all the four opera-
tional parameters simultaneously, the dynamics of the laser in
the larger parameter space are shown in Fig. 5. Here, we plotted
the laser response at different driving frequencies and modula-
tion indices (driving signal amplitudes) for three different
modulator bias voltages at two pumping ratios of 1.2 and 1.4
in the left and right panels, respectively. The color scheme used
in depicting the laser response is shown by the color bar given at
the bottom of Fig. 5. P1–P6 refer to period-1 to period-6, re-
spectively. P8, HP, and C refer to period-8, higher periods, and
chaos, respectively.
Let us consider the experimental results at a lower pumping
ratio of 1.2. At the bias voltage of 2 V, only period-1 and
period-2 are seen in the laser response at a V pp of 10 mV.
With an increase in V pp to 20 mV, the laser output shows
higher periods and chaos, as seen in Fig. 5(a). Here, the higher
periods refer to rapidly changing states of the laser output re-
sponse with the frequency variation. Apart from this, higher
periods also refer to the mixed periods when it is neither peri-
odic nor chaotic. For even higher V pp, the laser shows more
complex dynamics and chaotic regimes over wider frequency
ranges.
At a higher bias voltage of 4 V, the higher periods and chaos
start appearing only at 40 mV of V pp and also the frequency
 578 Vol. 34, No. 3 / March 2017 / Journal of the Optical Society of America B
Fig. 5. Measured laser response for different modulator bias voltages
at pumping ratios of 1.2 and 1.4. Pumping ratio
1.2 and bias volt-
ages of (a) 2 V, (b) 4 V, and (c) 6 V. Pumping ratio of 1.4 and bias
voltages of (d) 2 V, (e) 4 V, and (f ) 6 V. V pp is in mV.
span for the chaotic response is narrower as compared to the
previous case, which is shown in Fig. 5(b). At a higher bias
voltage, the cavity loss will be lower. The same V pp induces
lesser gain variation. As a result, the extent of nonlinearity
sensed by the laser is lesser. For the chosen EDF length
(8 m) and erbium ion concentration (3.535 × 1025 ions∕m3 ),
the gain curve is relatively steep at 1562 nm (2 V) as compared
to 1567 nm (4 V) [30]. At an even higher bias voltage of 6 V,
chaotic response appears only at a V pp of 100 mV, and the
frequency span for the chaotic output is relatively narrow, as
seen in Fig. 5(c). Here again, it is because of a relatively flatter
gain curve for the wavelength of 1569.5 nm.
In the bifurcation diagrams, the presence of period-2,
period-4, period-8, and higher periods confirm that the laser
exhibits chaos through the period-doubling route [32], while
period-3, period-5, and period-6 indicate that the chaos is also
attained through nonperiodic routes. Period-3 is mostly ob-
served at higher values of V pp and only after the first chaotic
regime is seen, as shown in Fig. 5. Therefore, one can quali-
tatively note that the chaos by routes other than the period-
doubling route is observed only after the first chaotic response
Research Article
of the laser. Here, one can notice some periodic states at certain
frequencies, even while it is chaotic at other frequencies, which
implies that the laser shows chaos only for certain combinations
of parameters. Such windows of chaotic response of the laser
were reported earlier [17,32].
At a higher pumping ratio of 1.4, the response of the laser is
slightly different. In Fig. 5(d), the laser response is shown for
different modulating signal amplitudes in a modulation fre-
quency span of 1 to 60 kHz at a fixed modulator bias voltage
of 2 V. As in the earlier case with the pumping ratio of 1.2
[Fig. 5(a)], the laser now shows different periods and chaos
but the frequency span for the chaotic output response is wider
(20–54 kHz) and shifted toward the higher frequency side. The
higher pumping ratio increases the inversion level. Thus, more
external perturbations are needed to push the system into the
chaotic state. As a result, the lowest value of V pp for chaotic
response will be higher, but it will give a chaotic response
for a wider frequency span. Here, the chaotic response is the
outcome of the interplay among the population inversion, las-
ing intensity, and induced cavity-loss variation. Qualitatively,
one can say that the chaos appears for some proportions of
the above variables [32]. Once the proportion is lost, the laser
goes back to the periodic state. With an increase in the pump-
ing ratio, the ROF increases, and the laser exhibits chaos near
the fundamental frequency (ROF). This is the sole reason for
the shift of frequency span of the chaotic laser response.
A larger pumping ratio requires higher V pp to push the laser
into the chaotic regime until the second threshold of the laser is
achieved. For the bias voltage of 4 V, the bifurcation diagram is
shown in Fig. 5(e). A wider chaotic regime is observed as com-
pared to the case of the pumping ratio of 1.2 [Fig. 5(b)], and
the lowest V pp value for the chaos is 50 mV, while it is 40 mV
for the pumping ratio of 1.2 [Fig. 5(b)]. For an even higher bias
voltage of 6 V, there are only period-1 and period-2 states, and
the corresponding result of measurement is shown in Fig. 5(f ).
In contrast, for the pumping ratio of 1.2, period-1, period-2,
period-4, higher periods, and even chaos were present at certain
frequencies [Fig. 5(c)].
To confirm the chaotic nature that is claimed in Fig. 5, we
have calculated the largest Lyapunov exponent by utilizing the
Rosenstein scheme [33]. The Lyapunov exponent is one of the
key parameters in identifying the chaotic behavior of the system.
It signifies how the distance between two points in the nearby
paths in the phase space evolves with time. We have calculated
the largest Lyapunov exponent by utilizing the Rosenstein
scheme [33]. This technique is suitable for calculating the
largest Lyapunov exponent from the time series. There are five
steps to get the Lyapunov exponent under this scheme. In the
first step, the lag is calculated by the autocorrection function
and it is followed by the depiction of the reconstructed attractor
[34] using the method of delay [35] in the second step. In the
third step, the nearest neighbor points are found in the adjacent
trajectories. In the fourth step, the distances between the near-
est neighbors are calculated. In the final step, the time evolution
of the distance of nearest neighbors is plotted. The slope of this
curve gives the Lyapunov exponent. Corresponding to each di-
mension, there is a Lyapunov exponent, and at least one pos-
itive Lyapunov exponent is the confirmation of chaos [36].
 Research Article Vol. 34, No. 3 / March 2017 / Journal of the Optical Society of America B
Table 2. Values of the Largest Lyapunov Exponent
Estimated from the Experimental Time Series for the
Pumping Ratios of 1.2 and 1.4a
Bias Modulation
Pumping Voltage Modulation Frequency Lyapunov
Ratio (V) Index (kHz) Exponent
1.2 (1.4) 2 0.0072 26 0.23 (0.26)
1.2 (1.4) 4 0.009 18 0.24 (0.2)
1.2 6 0.0013 20 0.16
a α0
If the number varies, the value of the parameter corresponding to the
pumping ratio of 1.4 is given in the bracket right next to the value for the
pumping ratio of 1.2. Otherwise, there is only one value for both pumping
ratios.
The calculated values of the largest Lyapunov exponent for
some values of the control parameters (pumping ratio, bias volt-
age, modulation index, and modulation frequency) used in our
work are given in Table 2. In our case, we got a positive value
for the largest Lyapunov exponent whenever the experiment
showed a very high orbit. We use this as the signature of chaotic
states.
The multiparameter diagram of Fig. 5 is useful for both ex-
perimentalists and for modeling enthusiasts since it contains
measured data (such as driving signal amplitude V pp , bias volt-
age V b , and pumping ratio P) as well as estimated data (such as
modulation index). In the next section, we show the results of
our modeling for the EDFRL dynamics for quantities compa-
rable to the experimental conditions.
4. THEORETICAL MODEL
The erbium-doped fiber laser is a class-B laser [32] and has only
the two variables of population inversion and lasing intensity.
To understand its nonlinear dynamics, a third variable is in-
serted externally with a sinusoidally varying cavity loss. The
scaled rate equations used for the calculation are given as fol-
lows, while the details are discussed in Refs. [17,37,38,39]:
dx

s  gxy − α; (1)
dθ
dy

a − yx  1  d : (2)
dθ
Here, x, y, θ, s, and α are the scaled parameters and represent
intensity, population inversion, time, spontaneous emission
rate, and cavity loss, respectively, while a and d are dependent
on the pumping rate and g is a constant. To incorporate the loss
modulation, the parameter α, which is indicative of loss, is var-
ied with sinusoidal as well as nonsinusoidal signals dependent
upon the bias point of the modulator. For the modeling cor-
responding to the bias point “B” of the experiment, the sinus-
oidal signal is used since it lies in the linear region of the
modulator characteristic, while for points “A” and “C” the non-
sinusoidal signal is used. The functional form of the sinusoidal
signal is α
α0 1  m sin2πνθ. Here, α0 is indicative of
the total passive cavity loss when there is no external modula-
tion. The nonsinusoidal signal is the combination of sine and
cosine with higher harmonics, and its expression is α
α0 1
ma0  b1 sin2πνθ  a2 cos4πνθ  a4 cos8πνθ. For
579
Table 3. Values of Various Parameters Used in the
Calculations for the Pumping Ratios of 1.2 and 1.4
Bias Voltage Bias Voltage Bias Voltage
2V 4V 6V
Parameters P
1.2 (1.4) P
1.2 (1.4) P
1.2 (1.4)
a 31.1 (37.63) 20.53 (25.41) 13.63 (17.49)
s 0.4 (0.42) 0.35 (0.37) 0.3 (0.33)
g 1.2 × 105 1.2 × 105 1.2 × 105
d 0.29 (0.34) 0.22 (0.26) 0.17 (0.20)
17.8 11.8 7.5
a0 0.09 – −0.35
a2 −0.06 – 0.12
a4 −0.01 – 0.02
b1 1 – 1
all calculations, the parameters used are appropriate to the ex-
periments. Here, the coefficients a0 , b1 , a2 , and a4 are the
weight factors of the different harmonics of the fundamental
frequency and are calculated through the Fourier transform
technique.
Stewart et al. [40] have reported an alternate model for
EDFL dynamics that includes the effect of amplified sponta-
neous emission, excited state absorption (ESA), and multimode
operation, but these factors are not included in our case. This is
because the loss variation due to intracavity modulation is
much less, such that the center wavelength of lasing remains
unchanged during the modulation. The ESA in our work is
insignificant [41] because of the pump wavelength used by
us (980 nm) and because of the low-value pumping ratios
of 1.2 and 1.4 used in our work. The effect of ESA is significant
only at higher pumping ratios when pumped at 980 nm and in
the presence of signal power near the wavelength of 1530 nm
[42]. In the absence of 1530 nm, if a small ESA is present, it
only increases the total cavity loss [43] and the laser dynamics
remain invariant. In view of these factors, we did not include
the effect of excited state absorption in our calculation.
Equations (1) and (2) are solved with the fourth order
Runge–Kutta method with a step size of 10−6 . The values of
the various parameters used in the calculation are given in
Table 3. To the extent possible, these are appropriate to the
experimental conditions. The values of parameters relevant
to the pumping ratio of 1.4 are given in the bracket right next
to the value for the pumping ratio of 1.2. If there is no varia-
tion, there is only one value shown for both the pumping ratios.
5. CALCULATED RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
For the pumping ratio of 1.2, the calculated output response of
the laser corresponding to V pp of 10 mV is shown in Fig. 6(a).
The values of the modulation index corresponding to bias volt-
ages of 2, 4, and 6 V are 0.00024, 0.00018, and 0.000022 for
the biasing points A, B, and C, respectively. Throughout all
calculations, the modulation index values are found to be five
times less than the corresponding experimental values since we
tried to match the fundamental resonance frequency between
calculation and experiment. In spite of our best efforts, only the
approximate values of stimulated emission cross section and
 580 Vol. 34, No. 3 / March 2017 / Journal of the Optical Society of America B Research Article

Fig. 6. Calculated responses of the EDFRL for different modulation

indices and MZM bias voltages, taking modulation frequency as the
control parameter. Red, blue, and black markers correspond to 2, 4,
and 6 V, respectively. (P
1.2.)

population inversion appropriate to the experiments were avail-

able for use in the calculation.
With the bias voltage of 2 V and a modulation index of
m
0.00024, the fundamental, subharmonic, and superhar-
monic resonance frequencies are 12.3, 28.3, and 7.5 kHz
[Fig. 5(a), red marker], respectively. Note that the frequency
of the fundamental resonance is comparable to the experiment,
while there is a slight deviation in the wavelength of sub-
harmonic resonance. Since the system is more sensitive in the
subharmonic regime [22], a small difference in the input
parameters can result in a large difference in the output re-
sponse. With the bias voltage of 4 V and a modulation index
of 0.00018, the fundamental, subharmonic, and superhar-
monic resonance frequencies are 11.4, 25.8, and 6.7 kHz,
respectively. At the bias voltage of 6 V, the fundamental
resonance frequency is at 11.8 kHz. The calculated laser
responses corresponding to a V pp of 25 mV are shown in
Fig. 6(b). These are consistent with the experimental results
shown in Fig. 4(b), except for some minor deviations. The val-
ues of the modulation indices used to model the case of V pp as
25 mV corresponding to 2, 4, and 6 V are 0.00060, 0.00045,
and 0.000055, respectively.
Even though most of the observed regimes in our work are
polarization dependent, accounting for the polarization of the
large number of modes is not necessary since the averaged effect
in a vector model would lead to a similar effect as observed by Fig. 7. Calculated bifurcation diagrams for different bias voltages of
us [44]. The mismatch in the resonance frequencies obtained the modulator for pumping ratios of 1.2 and 1.4. Pumping ratio

from the experiments and the calculations is very small and of 1.2 and bias voltages of (a) 2 V, (b) 4 V, and (c) 6 V. Pumping ratio of
1.4 and bias voltages of (d) 2 V, (e) 4 V, and (f) 6 V.
the order of 0.2 kHz. It is not possible to match them more
precisely due to the number of parameters involved in the cal-
culations. Whenever the experiment was repeated with the
same settings, fluctuations of this order (0.2 kHz) in the res- A small variation in the choice of modulation index can lead
onance frequency were noticed, possibly due to the unavoid- to this discrepancy. The calculated responses for the pumping
able pump power fluctuation and the modulator’s drive signal ratio of 1.4 are shown in Figs. 7(d)–7(f ). These calculations also
fluctuation. show quite a good agreement with the experimental results, ex-
The calculated bifurcation diagrams corresponding to the cept for some slight discrepancies at the bias voltage of 6 V.
pumping ratio of 1.2 and the bias voltage of 2, 4, and 6 V The effect of simultaneously changing the modulation index
are shown in Figs. 7(a)–7(c). Here, most of the trends are quite and modulation frequency on the dynamics of loss-modulated
similar to the experiments and a few minor deviations would be EDFL is studied theoretically by Saucedo-Solorio et al. [17]. In
due to nonideal experimental conditions, which are not ac- our case, we studied the laser dynamics in an even larger param-
counted for in the model. There is a distinct discrepancy in eter space experimentally as well as by the appropriate theoreti-
Fig. 7(c) since only period-1 and period-2 are in it, while in the cal model. Along with the modulation index and modulation
corresponding experimental results, period-1, period-2, higher frequency, the bias voltage and pumping ratio are also key
periods, and chaos are also present. It may be due to extremely parameters for the dynamics of the laser. The shift in the lasing
small values of the modulation index used in its modeling. wavelength is also observed by changing the modulator bias
 Research Article Vol. 34, No. 3 / March 2017 / Journal of the Optical Society of America B
Table 4. Values of the Largest Lyapunov Exponent
Estimated from the Calculated Time Series for the
Pumping Ratios of 1.2 and 1.4a
Bias Modulation
Pumping Voltage Modulation Frequency Lyapunov
Ratio (V) Index (kHz) Exponent
1.2 (1.4) 2 0.0019 20 0.20 (0.22)
1.2 (1.4) 4 0.0022 20 0.25 (0.15)
a
If the quantity changes, the value of the parameter corresponding to the
pumping ratio of 1.4 is given in the bracket right next to the value for the
pumping ratio of 1.2. Otherwise, there is only one value for both pumping
ratios.
voltage since the passive cavity loss of the ring is changed, which
is the key parameter of the wavelength selectivity. It exhibits
different periodic states and chaos under different routes of
chaos. It is found that an increase in the pumping ratio leads
to a shift in the regime of chaotic laser response toward the
higher frequency side and also it becomes wider until the sec-
ond laser threshold. It is observed that by changing the bias
voltage, the system can switch its dynamical behavior to any
linear or nonlinear regime. This can help to mimic the dynam-
ics of physiological systems and assist in detecting the abnor-
malities, provide early warnings, predict the risk, as well as to
indicate the routes toward restabilization and normalcy. As in
the case of the experiment, we have calculated the largest
Lyapunov exponent for the simulation results shown in
Fig. 7. The positive values of the largest Lyapunov exponent
are given in Table 4 along with the parameters of the
calculation.
6. CONCLUSION
We have experimentally studied how the EDFRL switches its
dynamical response when the control parameters are changed
in their relevant ranges. The shift in the lasing wavelength is
also observed by changing the modulator bias voltage since the
passive cavity loss of the ring gets changed, which is the key
parameter for the wavelength selectivity. The dynamics of
the laser are experimentally demonstrated in the larger param-
eter space, with the variation of modulation index, modulation
frequency, modulator bias voltage, and pumping ratio. It exhib-
its different periodic states and chaos under the different routes
of chaos, depending on the parameter values. It is found that an
increase in the pumping ratio leads to a shift in the regime of
chaotic laser response toward the higher frequency side, and
also it becomes wider in frequency until the second laser thresh-
old. The enabling factors for controlling the dynamics and the
extent of control possible with them are established.
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