Controlling Optical Chaos , Spatio - Temporal Dynamics , and Patterns

We describe how small perturbations applied to optical systems can be used to suppress or control optical chaos, spatio-temporal dynamics, and patterns. This research highlights the fact that complex behavior, such as chaos, has a beautiful and orderly underlying structure. We demonstrate that this orderly structure can be exploited for a variety of applications, such as stabilizing laser behavior in a regime where the device would normally produce erratic behavior, communicating information masked in a seemingly noise-like chaotic carrier, and improving the sensitivity of ultra-low-light level optical switches.