Experimental evidence of a strange nonchaotic attractor in a <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><mml:msub><mml:mrow><mml:mi>Nd</mml:mi><mml:mo>:</mml:mo><mml:mi>YVO</mml:mi></mml:mrow><mml:mn>4</mml:mn></mml:msub></mml:math> las
The diode-pumped Nd:vanadate laser is one of the most widely used lasers in the near-infrared range. Using passive Q-switching with a Cr:YAG saturable absorber, it generates nanosecond pulses at tens of kilohertz. It is well known to display either regular pulsing or low-dimensional deterministic chaos, depending on the absorber's position within the cavity. However, to our knowledge, a strange nonchaotic attractor (SNA) has never been reported in this system. Our experiments provide evidence that, for a specific absorber position, the laser dynamics correspond to a strange nonchaotic attractor. SNAs exhibit complex dynamical behavior that is neither periodic nor chaotic, positioning them as a valuable resource for applications requiring high spectral diversity while preserving predictable dynamics. By experimentally obtaining time series of two laser variables, we reconstruct the underlying attractor. For a certain position of the SA, we find that all Lyapunov exponents are negative and that the energy spectra exhibit a broad frequency range, indicating that the attractor is nonchaotic and lacks periodicity. Using Higuchi's method, we estimate the fractal dimension $({d}_{f})$ and find that $13%$ of the nonchaotic time series exhibit a well-defined ${d}_{f}$, confirming the presence of an SNA.
Authors
- Marcelo Kovalsky (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2276-7256)
- Mónica Agüero (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1834-1597)
- Juliana N. Bourdieu
Institutions
- Institute of Scientific and Technical Research for Defense (AR)
- Centro Científico Tecnológico - Tucumán (AR)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Physical review. A/Physical review, A
- Published
- 2025-10-17
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1103/sxh7-fmlj
- Primary Topic
- Nonlinear Dynamics and Pattern Formation
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00