Mixed-mode oscillations via canard explosions in light-emitting diodes with optoelectronic feedback.

Chaotically spiking attractors in semiconductor lasers with optoelectronic feedback have been recently observed to be the result of canard phenomena in three-dimensional phase space (incomplete homoclinic scenarios). Since light-emitting diodes display the same dynamics and are much more easily controllable, we use one of these systems to complete the attractor analysis demonstrating experimentally and theoretically the occurrence of complex sequences of periodic mixed-mode oscillations. In particular, we investigate the transition between periodic and chaotic mixed-mode states and analyze the effects of the unavoidable experimental noise on these transitions.