Regular dynamics of low-frequency fluctuations in external cavity semiconductor lasers

It is commonly believed that the dynamics responsible for low-frequency fluctuations (LFF's) in external cavity semiconductor lasers is stochastic or chaotic. A common approach to address the origin of LFF's is to investigate the dynamical behavior of, and the interaction among, various external cavity modes in the Lang-Kobayashi (LK) paradigm. In this paper, we propose a framework for understanding of the LFFs based on a different set of fundamental solutions of the LK equations, which are periodic or quasiperiodic, and which are characterized by a sequence of time-locked pulses with slowly varying magnitude. We present numerical evidence and heuristic arguments, indicating that the dynamics of LFF's emerges as a result of quasiperiodic bifurcations from these solutions as the pumping current increases. Regular periodic solutions can actually be observed when (1) the feedback level is moderate, (2) pumping current is below solitary threshold, and (3) the linewidth enhancement factor is relatively large.