Chaos of interband cascade lasers in the mid-infrared regime

Abstract Chaos in nonlinear dynamical systems is featured with irregular appearance and with high sensitivity to initial conditions. Near-infrared semiconductor lasers subject to optical feedback from an external reflector are popular chaotic light sources, which have enabled multiple applications. Here, we report the fully-developed chaos in a mid-infrared interband cascade laser with external optical feedback. The chaos leads to significant electrical power enhancement over a frequency span of 500 MHz. In addition, the laser also exhibits periodic oscillations or low-frequency fluctuations before producing chaos, depending on the operation conditions. This work paves the way for extending chaos investigations from the near-infrared regime to the mid-infrared regime, which can stimulate potential applications in this spectral range.