New Route to Chaos in Mode-Locked Laser: The Modulated Subharmonic Scenario

Vastly different physical systems experience transition to chaos in three well-defined universal ways, namely, the quasi-periodicity, period-doubling and intermittency routes [1]. In this paper, by using real-time measurements, we reveal a new route from solitons to chaos where the transition to chaotic behaviour occurs through a laser state that is characterised by self-modulation of sub-harmonically synchronised breather oscillations [2], [3].