Summary form only given. A semiconductor laser subject to optical feedback exhibits very rich and complex dynamical behavior which may enhance or degrade the laser's performance significantly. We investigate a single mode semiconductor laser pumped near threshold and subject to weak optical feedback from a short distance. We find both experimentally and numerically that as the feedback strength is increased the laser undergoes a cascade of bifurcations as one external cavity mode becomes unstable and the next one with higher intensity becomes stable only to be destabilized and to be replaced by the next stable external cavity mode.
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