Nonlinear Phenomena in Complex Systems, 2017, Vol.20, No.1, pp.73-81

NONLINEAR PHENOMENA IN COMPLEX SYSTEMS
An Interdisciplinary Journal

2017, Vol.20, No.1, pp.73-81

Optical Rogue Waves in a Laser with Saturable Absorber
Cristina Rimoldi, Stephane Barland, Franco Prati, and Giovanna Tissoni

Extreme events in optics have been recently attracted a great attention due to the wellknown analogy between optics and hydrodynamics. In this contribution, we show numerical results about extreme events occurring in the field emitted by a monolithic broad-area semiconductor laser with saturable absorber. In suitable parameter conditions, the field emitted by this system may show a spatio-temporal turbulent profile where extreme events are possible. At difference from previous literature about optical rogue waves in twodimensional (2D) transverse spatial systems, we have developed a numerical method for the individuation of the spatio-temporal maxima of the transverse field intensity. This method allows a comparison, for example, with the hydrodynamical definition of “significant wave height”, corresponding to the mean value of the wave height of the highest third of the waves.

Key words: semiconductor laser, optical wave, spatio-temporal turbulent profile, spatio-temporal chaos

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