Multistability in a semiconductor laser with optoelectronic feedback.

The multistability in a single-mode distributed feedback semiconductor laser with delayed optoelectronic feedback is observed experimentally. For a given delay time, the observed dynamical state of the laser output is critically dependent on the process of varying the delay time and is limited by the range of variation. Various routes of delay time variation results in multistabilities characterized by states of different time series and power spectra.