Complexity and synchronization in chaotic fiber-optic systems

In this work we investigate experimentally the complexity of chaotic attractors generated by a semiconductor laser subjected to optical feedback and associate their dimensionality with the synchronization efficiency of the corresponding chaotic transmitter–receiver configuration. The complexity is characterized by calculating the correlation dimension D2D2 of experimental chaotic time series for different values of the optical feedback ηη. We present the effect of D2D2 on the synchronization efficiency and determine the optimal operating condition that leads to the most complex chaotic carrier and, simultaneously, to the most successful synchronization. Lastly, we associate and explain our experimental results with theoretical predictions in the research literature.