Excitable-like chaotic pulses in the bounded-phase regime of an opto-radiofrequency oscillator

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates the existence of excitable-like chaotic pulses in an opto-radiofrequency oscillator, showing regular, threshold-like responses to perturbations without phase slips, combining chaos with excitable system properties.

Contribution

It provides both theoretical and experimental evidence of excitable-like behavior in a chaotic regime of an opto-radiofrequency oscillator, a novel combination of chaos and excitability.

Findings

Chaotic pulses are regular and almost periodic.

Pulses exhibit threshold-like responses to perturbations.

No phase slips accompany the excitable-like pulses.

Abstract

We report theoretical and experimental evidence of chaotic pulses with excitable-like properties in an opto-radiofrequency oscillator based on a self-injected dual-frequency laser. The chaotic attractor involved in the dynamics produces pulses that, albeit chaotic, are quite regular: They all have similar amplitudes, and are almost periodic in time. Thanks to these features, the system displays properties that are similar to those of excitable systems. In particular, the pulses exhibit a threshold-like response, of well-defined amplitude, to perturbations, and it appears possible to define a refractory time. At variance with excitability in injected lasers, here the excitable-like pulses are not accompanied by phase slips.