We investigate the instantaneous behavior of synchronized temporal wave forms in two mutually coupled semiconductor lasers numerically and experimentally. The temporal wave forms of two lasers are synchronized with a propagation delay time, with one laser oscillating in advance of the other, known as the leader-laggard relationship. The leader-laggard relationship can be determined by measuring the cross-correlation between the two temporal wave forms with the propagation delay time. The leader can be identified when the optical carrier frequency of the leader laser is higher than that of the other laser. However, spontaneous exchange between the leader and laggard lasers can be observed in low-frequency fluctuations by short-term cross-correlation measurements, even for a fixed initial optical frequency detuning. The spontaneous exchange of the leader-laggard relationship originates from alternation of partial optical frequency locking between the two lasers. This observation is analyzed using a phase space trajectory on steady-state solutions for mutually coupled lasers with optical frequency detuning.

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