Nonlinear resonance phenomena of a doped fibre laser under cavity-loss modulation: experimental demonstrations

Our experiments with an erbium-doped fibre ring laser (CW, single transverse mode and multiaxial mode) with an intracavity LiNbO(3) electro-optic modulator (EOM) display the characteristic features of a nonlinear oscillator (e.g., harmonic and period-2 sub-harmonic resonances) when the EOM driver voltage is modulated periodically. Harmonic resonance leads to period-1 bistability and hysteresis. Inside the period-2 sub-harmonic resonance region, the laser exhibits Feigenbaum sequence and generalized bistability