Characterization and control of laser chaos using unstable periodic orbits

The CO/sub 2/ laser with modulated losses is also known to present a series of crises due to collision of the chaotic attractor with some unstable periodic orbits (UPOs) created in saddle-node bifurcations. UPOs are key elements of chaotic dynamics since (i) they are the trajectories on which the chaotic laser may be stabilized and (ii) they allow to unfold the complexity of chaos.