Chaotic synchronization with self-pulsating semiconductor lasers

Summary form only given. Considerable attention has been given to using chaos to implement secure optical communication systems. A message is encoded onto a chaotic carrier generated in a transmitter laser. Decoding of the message can be effected using a chaotic receiver if it is synchronized to the transmitter. In this paper we show that chaotic synchronization can be achieved using self-pulsating semiconductor lasers such as CD laser diodes. Chaotic dynamics are introduced by modulation of the laser´s drive current. The intrinsic nature of the chaos allows the use of a simple low-cost stand-alone device to effect chaotic data encryption.