Cavity solitons as pixels in semiconductor microcavities

Stephane Barland, Jorge R. Tredicce, Massimo Brambilla, Luigi A. Lugiato (), Salvador Balle, Massimo Giudici, Tommaso Maggipinto, Lorenzo Spinelli, Giovanna Tissoni, Thomas Knödl, Michael Miller and Roland Jäger
Additional contact information
Stephane Barland: Institut Non Lineaire de Nice
Jorge R. Tredicce: Institut Non Lineaire de Nice
Massimo Brambilla: Poltecnico e Università di Bari
Luigi A. Lugiato: Università dell'Insubria
Salvador Balle: IMEDEA
Massimo Giudici: Institut Non Lineaire de Nice
Tommaso Maggipinto: Poltecnico e Università di Bari
Lorenzo Spinelli: Università dell'Insubria
Giovanna Tissoni: Università dell'Insubria
Thomas Knödl: University of Ulm
Michael Miller: University of Ulm
Roland Jäger: University of Ulm

Nature, 2002, vol. 419, issue 6908, 699-702

Abstract: Abstract Cavity solitons are localized intensity peaks that can form in a homogeneous background of radiation. They are generated by shining laser pulses into optical cavities that contain a nonlinear medium driven by a coherent field (holding beam). The ability to switch cavity solitons on and off1,2 and to control their location and motion3 by applying laser pulses makes them interesting as potential ‘pixels’ for reconfigurable arrays or all-optical processing units. Theoretical work on cavity solitons2,3,4,5,6,7 has stimulated a variety of experiments in macroscopic cavities8,9,10 and in systems with optical feedback11,12,13. But for practical devices, it is desirable to generate cavity solitons in semiconductor structures, which would allow fast response and miniaturization. The existence of cavity solitons in semiconductor microcavities has been predicted theoretically14,15,16,17, and precursors of cavity solitons have been observed, but clear experimental realization has been hindered by boundary-dependence of the resulting optical patterns18,19—cavity solitons should be self-confined. Here we demonstrate the generation of cavity solitons in vertical cavity semiconductor microresonators that are electrically pumped above transparency but slightly below lasing threshold20. We show that the generated optical spots can be written, erased and manipulated as objects independent of each other and of the boundary. Numerical simulations allow for a clearer interpretation of experimental results.

Date: 2002
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DOI: 10.1038/nature01049

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