Topological insight into the non-arrhenius mode hopping of semiconductor ring lasers.

We investigate both theoretically and experimentally the stochastic switching between two counterpropagating lasing modes of a semiconductor ring laser. Experimentally, the residence time distribution cannot be described by a simple one-parameter Arrhenius exponential law and reveals the presence of two different mode-hop scenarios with distinct time scales. In order to elucidate the origin of these two time scales, we propose a topological approach based on a two-dimensional dynamical system.