Subtleties of the period-doubling chaos of an optically pumpedNH3single-mode ring laser

The dynamics of the period-doubling chaos of an optically pumped ${\mathrm{NH}}_3$ single-mode ring laser is investigated experimentally and the metric properties of the attractor are calculated for different experimental conditions. Studies of the periodic attractors of the laser are also reported. We show experimentally that the dynamics of the period-doubling chaos and the periodic attractors of the laser is generally more complex than that of the extended Lorenz equations allowing cavity detuning, although, when the influence of pump coherence effects becomes weak, the dynamics of this laser approaches that of the extended Lorenz equations.