Influence of polarization mode competition on the synchronization of two unidirectionally coupled vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers

We analyze theoretically the effect of polarization mode competition on the synchronization of two unidirectionally coupled vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs). Chaos in the master laser is induced by delayed optical feedback, and the slave laser is subject to isotropic optical injection from the master VCSEL. We show that the synchronization quality can be enhanced when the chaotic regime in the master VCSEL involves both fundamental orthogonal linearly polarized modes. (c) 2007 Optical Society of America.