Chaotic effects in flared lasers: a numerical analysis

A numerical analysis of chaotic effects in flared laser structures is presented. A numerical model based on the beam propagation method is used which includes saturation and temperature effects. Instabilities observed at the output are shown to be chaotic. Reconstruction of the strange attractor is employed for analysis of the leading Lyapunov exponent and the correlation dimension. Different control parameters are examined, and all show several phases of the system: stable, periodic, and chaotic.