  We examine the dynamics of semiconductor lasers coupled in a ring
configuration. The lasers, which have stable output intensity when isolated,
behave chaotically when coupled unidirectionally in a closed chain. In this
way, we show that neither feedback nor bidirectional coupling is necessary to
induce chaotic dynamics at the laser output. We study the synchronization
phenomena arising in this particular coupling architecture, and discuss its
possible application to chaos-based communications. Next, we extend the study
to bidirectional coupling and propose an appropriate technique to optical chaos
encryption/decryption in closed chains of mutually coupled semiconductor
lasers.
