Vibrational higher-order resonances in an overdamped bistable system with biharmonic excitation

Experimental evidence of vibrational higher-order resonances in a bistable vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser driven by two harmonic signals with very different frequencies is reported. The phenomenon shows up in a parameter space (the dc current, the amplitude of the high-frequency signal) as well-defined structures with multiple local maxima at higher harmonics of the low-frequency signal. Such structures appear due to a strong suppression of higher harmonics for certain values of the high-frequency amplitude and the dc current. Complexity of the structures and the total number of the local maxima depend on the harmonic order k. The behavior of nonlinear distortion factor is also studied. The experimental results are in a good agreement with the numerical results which were obtained in the model of the bistable overdamped oscillator with biharmonic excitation.