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Disorder-mediated synchronization resonance in coupled semiconductor lasers

Li-Li Ye1, Nathan Vigne2, Fan-Yi Lin2,3, Hui Cao2, and Ying-Cheng Lai1,4,*

  • *Contact author: Ying-Cheng.Lai@asu.edu
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Phys. Rev. Research 8, 013104 – Published 30 January, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/d8g4-f4qk

Abstract

Disorder can profoundly influence synchronization in networks of nonlinear oscillators, sometimes enhancing coherence through external tuning. In semiconductor lasers, however, achieving high-quality steady-state synchronization is desired, while intrinsic and typically uncontrollable disorder poses a major challenge. Under fixed frequency disorder, we investigate homogeneous fully coupled external-cavity semiconductor lasers governed by the complex, time-delayed Lang-Kobayashi equations with experimentally relevant parameters and identify an optimal coupling strength that maximizes steady-state synchronization in the weak-coupling regime, which we term disorder-mediated synchronization resonance. This optimum appears for any fixed configuration of intrinsic frequency detuning and scales inversely with the number of lasers, leading to a linear scaling of the total coupling cost with the number of lasers. A theory based on an effective thermodynamic potential explains this disorder-mediated optimization, revealing a general mechanism by which moderate coupling can overcome static heterogeneity in nonlinear physical systems.

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Phys. Rev. Research 8, 013104– Published 30 January, 2026
  • Received 5 September 2025
  • Accepted 6 January 2026
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Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI.

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