ABSTRACT
An experimental study is presented on a complex nonlinear system showing a particular type of dynamics that can be interpreted as stochastic resonance. The system consists of a metal-ferroelectric-semiconductor structure, which plays the role of a nonlinear element in an electric circuit with linear resistance, inductance, and capacitance connected in series (RLC series circuit) driven externally by a high-amplitude harmonic voltage source. The system presents various kinds of nonlinear behavior, of which the simplest, consisting of a period-doubling evolution to chaos, is of interest to this study. The broadband intrinsic chaos emerging after a period-doubling sequence exists for a large range of frequencies of the driving voltage. The appearance of the chaotic dynamics is associated with the promotion of a low-frequency harmonic spectral component. This is interpreted as stochastic resonance with intrinsic chaos replacing noise, the usual variable in regular SR.
