Prefaceforthesecondedition Chaos research in laser physics, especially in semiconductor lasers, has - veloped further even after completion of the ?rst edition of this book in the late summer of 2004, and it is still growing rapidly. For example, various forms of chaotic dynamics have been applied in newly developed semic- ductor lasers, such as in vertical-cavitysurface-emitting semiconductor lasers and broad-area semiconductor lasers. Chaotic dynamics plays an important role in these new lasers, even for their solitary oscillations, and control of the dynamics is currently an important...

The extended 3rd edition of this book covers such innovations as chaos synchronization between two lasers used for optical secure communication, fast physical number generation using chaotic semiconductor lasers and development and application of chaos chips.