Complex dynamics of cavity solitons in an injected laser with saturable absorber

Complex dynamics of cavity solitons in injected broad-area semiconductor lasers with a saturable absorber is numerically investigated focusing on their transition from period-1 to multi-period and chaotic states. Our results reveal that as the control parameter, e.g. cavity detuning, moves away from the stable locking state at the cavity soliton frequency, cavity solitons follow a period-doubling route to chaos. The chaos is a cavity soliton chaos, in contrast to bulk chaos, meaning that there is no chaos if the cavity soliton is switched off. We demonstrate that varying the control parameter can yield multiple chaotic states, each characterized by distinct bandwidths and attractor structures illustrated by Poincaré sections. Robustness against perturbations and the existence of chaotic cavity solitons in 1D simulations with group velocity dispersion instead of diffraction are also discussed and verified. We believe that chaotic cavity solitons can add an unprecedented capability for high-capacity communication and information processing due to their parallel-operation and control features.