Optical Chaos is chaos generated by laser instabilities using different schemes in semiconductor and fiber lasers. Optical Chaos is observed in many non-linear optical systems. One of the most common examples is a ring resonator.
One of the most seminal works is published by Ikeda (Physical Review Letters, 1982) where chaotic behavior in a ring resonator was proposed and experiementally confirmed.
Optical Chaos was an exciting field of research in mid-1980s and was expected at that time to lead to production of All optical devices including All optical computers. Researchers realised later the inherent limitation of the optical systems due to the nonlocalised nature of photons compared to highly localised nature of electrons.
Research in Optical Chaos has seen a recent resurgence in the context of studying synchronization phenomena, and in developing techniques for secure optical communications.
Famous quotes containing the words chaos, optical and/or systems:
“A face peered. All the grey night
In chaos of vacancy shone;
Naught but vast sorrow was there—
The sweet cheat gone.”
—Walter De La Mare (1873–1956)
“People who have realized that this is a dream imagine that it is easy to wake up, and are angry with those who continue sleeping, not considering that the whole world that environs them does not permit them to wake. Life proceeds as a series of optical illusions, artificial needs and imaginary sensations.”
—Alexander Herzen (1812–1870)
“No civilization ... would ever have been possible without a framework of stability, to provide the wherein for the flux of change. Foremost among the stabilizing factors, more enduring than customs, manners and traditions, are the legal systems that regulate our life in the world and our daily affairs with each other.”
—Hannah Arendt (1906–1975)